In this episode of In Conversation with Terry Shepherd, Terry dives deep into the writer's craft with author and artist Karen Ann Phillips to celebrate the release of A Deadly Hook, the third and final installment in her popular Rocky Nelson series.

What happens when a peaceful weekend in the Sierra Nevadas is interrupted by a Bigfoot sighting and a shocking murder? Karen shares how her protagonist, Raquel "Rocky" Nelson—a retired boxer with a soft heart and a knockout punch—navigates a sinister mystery that leaves one of her own friends as the prime suspect.

Inside This Episode

• A Different Kind of Sleuth: Why Karen chose to make her protagonist a 55-year-old boxer instead of a traditional bakery owner to set her apart in the "cozy" genre.
• Art Imitating Life: The autobiographical elements behind Rocky, including Karen’s own boxing lessons and her "money pit" experience owning a vintage trailer.
• Handling Heavy Themes: How Karen weaves sensitive topics like suicide and sibling rivalry into a traditional mystery while maintaining a "heartfelt" tone and a happy ending.
• The Romantic Tussle: Rocky’s ultimate choice between the "hot firefighter" and the "handsome detective".
• The Writing Process: Karen’s transition from short stories to novels, her use of "sprints" for discipline, and the mentors who helped her along the way.

About Karen Ann Phillips

Karen Ann Phillips is a novelist and a professional cover designer. She is an active member of the writing community, including Sisters in Crime and Capital Crimes. While A Deadly Hook wraps up Rocky’s journey, Karen is already at work on her next project: The Mother Daughter Detective Agency.

Connect with Karen:

• Website: karenaphillips.com
• Featured Book: A Deadly Hook

Mentioned in this Episode

• Sisters in Crime & Capital Crimes (Sacramento Chapter)
• Eight Weeks to a Complete Book by Becky Clark
• Writing mentors: Cindy Sample and Penny Warner

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo

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Episode Title: From DOJ Corridors to Chicago Syndicates: Chad Boudreaux on Crafting Mob Justice

Episode Description:

Imagine starting a high-stakes job at the Department of Justice on September 10, 2001. For our guest today, Chad Boudreaux, that was reality. After spending decades navigating the overlapping spheres of homeland security and defense leadership, Chad has channeled a world of classified briefings and calibrated language into a thrilling second vocation as an author.

In this episode, Chad joins us to discuss his latest novel, Mob Justice, the highly anticipated follow-up to Scavenger Hunt. He takes us behind the scenes of his writing process and into the gray areas where the law’s formal architecture meets the improvisations of survival.

We explore his protagonist, Blake Hudson—an earnest, tested DOJ attorney—who is dispatched to a Chicago still haunted by the lingering aura of the Prohibition-era Chicago Outfit.

In this episode, we cover:

• A Trial by Fire: What it was like for Chad to start at the DOJ the day before 9/11 and how those decades in federal service shaped his fiction.
• The Anti-Action Hero: Why Chad chose to make Blake Hudson an earnest, naive protagonist navigating a system that rewards calculation, rather than a preloaded "marquee star."
• Authenticity Over Melodrama: How Chad consulted former FBI agents to master the true "vocabulary of surveillance" and ensure his wiretap scenes carried documentary restraint.
• The Ultimate Antagonist: A breakdown of the book's most arresting confrontation featuring Enzo—a former Supreme Court clerk who chillingly pivots into a mob consigliere.
• Institutions & Humanity: Exploring the novel's core themes of loyalty, betrayal, and finding the irreducibly human elements beneath the marble floors of Washington.

Whether you love legal thrillers, organized crime history, or just want to hear how an insider translates real-world government experience into page-turning fiction, this episode is for you!

Get the Book: Pick up your copy of Mob Justice and its predecessor, Scavenger Hunt, wherever books are sold.

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo

What if the secret to humanity's future was hidden inside a murdered judge's laptop?

In this episode of In Conversation with Terry Shepherd, Terry sits down with debut thriller author Gary Fields to explore his globe-spanning, time-bending novel, The Book of Judges — already drawing comparisons to The Da Vinci Code.

When a respected judge is killed, three unlikely heroes — a young lawyer, a theology doctoral candidate, and a quirky tech genius — have just 72 hours to decode the clues buried in his computer. What they uncover sends them on a desperate chase across Florida, hunted by a relentless killer, and ultimately face-to-face with a secret that could change the world.

Gary shares the remarkable journey behind the book: from poetry and songwriting as a kid, to careers in tech and law, to 15 drafts over 20 years before finally publishing his debut. He talks about the spiritual concept of "the Words" — his belief that creativity connects us all — and why themes of human destiny, interconnectedness, and justice run through every page.

You'll also hear his surprisingly chilling take on artificial intelligence, what Henry VIII has to do with the future of political freedom, and why Joshua Sutton — his protagonist — will be back for a sequel.

In this episode:

• The origin of The Book of Judges and why it took two decades to write
• How Gary blends authentic legal history with modern thriller pacing
• The three protagonists — and the real people who inspired them
• Dreams, destiny, and the idea that we're all more connected than we know
• Gary's AI warning you won't soon forget

📖 Learn more and read a free expanded chapter: garyfields.com

In Conversation with Terry Shepherd — a deep dive into the writer's craft with the artists and support systems who create the stories we love.

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo

We recently sat down with celebrated anthropologist Dr. Mimi Nichter to discuss her gripping new memoir, "Hostage: A Memoir of Terrorism, Trauma, and Resilience."

In 1970, Mimi was a college senior whose flight home from Tel Aviv was hijacked by the PFLP. What followed were six days on a sweltering plane in the Jordanian desert and weeks of captivity in Amman.

But this isn't just a historical recount—it’s a deeply personal exploration of:

• The "Hidden Box": How she carried the weight of trauma for decades in a world that didn't yet have the language to understand it.
• Human Complexity: Her unique perspective as an anthropologist, finding moments of shared humanity even with her captors.
• True Resilience: The realization that healing isn't about forgetting, but "resizing" fear so it no longer consumes the present.

Dr. Nichter’s story is a profound reminder that even in the most polarized times, nuance and empathy are our most necessary tools.

Check out the full interview to hear more about her journey from the desert sands to finding her voice. 👇

#HostageMemoir #MimiNichter #NewBook #Resilience #MustRead #History #TraumaRecovery #Anthropology

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo

What happens when a Silicon Valley pioneer trades the boardroom for the open road? 🏍️✨

I recently sat down with Michael Yang, the founder of MySimon, to talk about his incredible new memoir, "Coming Alive on the Ride."

Michael reached the "Silicon Valley summit" early, but he discovered that the view from the top can be surprisingly isolating. From arriving in San Jose as a teenager with no English to navigating the unpredictable world of tech and eventually riding a motorcycle to the tip of Patagonia, Michael’s story is about much more than business—it’s about "shin-na-geh" (a state of joyful immersion).

Here are a few takeaways from our conversation:

• Adaptability is everything: Whether it’s a broken shifter in a Patagonia storm or being pushed out of a company you built, how you pivot defines your success.
• The "Personal Exit": The most important exit isn't financial; it’s stepping beyond your comfort zone to rediscover yourself.
• Confidence is balance: Much like riding a motorcycle or standing up to a bully, confidence is a skill that must be practiced daily.

If you’ve ever felt "stalled" despite hitting your goals, Michael’s journey is a powerful reminder that reinvention is always possible if you just keep moving.

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo

From Hollywood "Ghost" to Literary Powerhouse ✍️

For 35 years, Peter Fedorenko was the "script doctor" who fixed Hollywood’s biggest stories from the shadows. Then, in 2020, his own heart stopped.

Having returned from the brink, Peter has finally stepped into the light with his debut novel, Among the Living.

It’s not just a book; it’s a reckoning. Following a German Jewish medic from the trenches of WWI to the rise of Nazi Berlin, it explores a haunting truth: Patriotism is not armor.

In our interview, we discuss:

• How a near-death experience fueled his transition from film to prose.
• The forgotten history of Jewish medics on the Western Front.
• Why survival isn’t the ultimate goal—memory is.

Don’t miss this conversation with a man who spent a lifetime refining fantasies, only to deliver a masterpiece of reality.

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo

In celebration of it's paperback release join us for a special look at the journey of Jennifer K. Morita toward publication of her debut novel, "Ghosts of Waikīkī,"

What happens when an unemployed newspaper reporter returns to Hawaii to ghostwrite for a controversial developer? In Jennifer’s debut, the answer is a cocktail of mystery, family secrets, and a murder investigation led by the protagonist's ex.

Now officially available in paperback, Jennifer sat down with Terry Shepherd to pull back the curtain on her writing process. From "sheltering in place" during the 2020 pandemic to sneaking in chapters during lunch breaks and finding plot breakthroughs in Zumba class, Jennifer’s story is a masterclass in persistence and passion.

Whether you're an aspiring author or a fan of island noir, you won’t want to miss this conversation about how one woman turned a "writer's dream" into a gripping reality.

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo

How well do we truly know the people we love?
In the latest episode, I sit down with Danielle Girard to discuss her haunting new thriller, "Pinky Swear." This isn't a story of cartoon villains or "moral origami." Instead, it’s a dive into the "slanted middle"—the messy, gray area where devotion slides into delusion.
Born from the "ashes of a collapsed marriage" and the quiet, wintry silence of Montana, Danielle’s 17th novel is a work of emotional archaeology. We dig into:

• The Ultimate Betrayal: What happens when a surrogate vanishes just days before the birth?
• The Reality of Evil: Why the most terrifying threats aren't monsters, but the ordinary betrayals that erode our safety.
• Professional Reinvention: Danielle’s journey of starting over mid-career and finding a new voice in the "fog."

Don't Miss This Conversation

Whether you’re a longtime fan of her procedurals or looking for a story that captures the "suffocating dread of waiting for a door that doesn't open," this is a conversation—and a book—you won’t be able to put down.

Join us as we explore the space between events where life actually happens.

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo