It’s 1985, what will soon become known as “The Year of the Spy,” and fourteen-year-old Peter Bennett is convinced his mom’s new boyfriend is a Russian agent. “Gary” isn’t in the phone book, has an unidentifiable European accent, and keeps a gun in the glove box of his convertible Porsche. Peter thinks Gary only wants to get close to his mom because she works at Scientific Atlanta, a lab with big government contracts. But who is going to believe him? He’s just a kid into BMX and MTV.Ace Atkins is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels and numerous short stories. A former college football player and newspaper reporter, he’s a recipient of the Richard Wright Literary Excellence Award, the Harper Lee Award, and a member of the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame. He lives with his wife Angela and two children in Oxford, Mississippi.#authorpodcast #speakingofwriterspodcast #AceAtkins #SpeakingOfWriters #BookPodcast #ColdWarThriller #AuthorInterview #BookLovers

Author Mel Michalski joins Speaking of Writers to discuss his powerful new book Living in the Spiritual World—a deeply personal journey of faith, redemption, and spiritual discovery.

#SpeakingOfWriters#MelMichalski#LivingInTheSpiritualWorld#FaithJourney#ChristianBooks#SpiritualGrowth#InspirationalReads#FaithBasedBooks

Robert Polito takes us inside the creative mind of Bob Dylan with his new book After the Flood: Inside Bob Dylan’s Memory Palace. A deep dive into reinvention, artistry, and legacy.#SpeakingOfWriters#BobDylan#AuthorInterview#BookPodcast#MusicHistory#LiteraryPodcast

Emilio Pucci: The Astonishing Odyssey of a Fashion Icon . The book has received glowing reviews from The New York Times, Vogue, Publishers Weekly, and more.When people think of fashion designer Emilio Pucci, it is of his bright, swirling colors and easy, freeing fabrics, and everyone from Sophia Loren to Jackie Kennedy donning the eye-catching dresses that personify La Dolce Vita. What few know about Pucci, however, is that before creating his world-famous fashions, he played a critical role in the war against the Nazis, risking his life to smuggle out to the Allies one of the most important documents of World War II.The authors bring to life Italy’s darkest and brightest days, with the extraordinary Emilio Pucci at its center. Italy at the end of the war was broken, and Florence, which the Pucci family had called home for seven centuries, lay in ruins. Pucci returned home bruised in body and soul, having endured trials that would have broken many, but, like Italy itself, rose from the ashes, and went on to design some of the most exuberant fashion of all time. He helped usher in a new era of creativity in Italy, which again became a mecca of fashion, art, design, film, and more.About the authors:Idanna Pucci is the author of The Lady of Sing Sing and The World Odyssey of a Balinese Prince. Idanna grew up in the Pucci palace, eyewitness to her uncle's extraordinary work. She and Terence have had far flung lives, from Iran to Indonesia. They live in Florence.Terence Ward is the author of Searching for Hassan: A Journey to the Heart of Iran and The Guardian of Mercy: How an Extraordinary Painting by Caravaggio Changed an Ordinary Life.#speakingofwriterspodcast #authorpodcast #authors #stmartinspublishing #italy #florenceitaly #emiliopucci#bookpodcast

Emily Carpenter has earned her place as a master of Southern Gothic suspense with her immersive novels set in the atmospheric South, where she was born and raised. The former actor, producer and screenwriter, who grew up in Alabama and lives in Georgia, chose the historic and picturesque city of Savannah for the setting of her seventh novel, A SPELL FOR SAINTS AND SINNERS, to be published by Kensington . Frequently ranked among America’s most haunted cities, Savannah is a fitting locale for this mesmerizing novel of intrigue, family secrets, and dark pasts, layered with a deft touch of the supernatural. #speakingofwriterspodcast #emilycarpenter#authorpodcast#novels

In 1969, a Picasso painting titled Portrait of a Woman and Musketeer vanished from Logan International Airport’s loading dock in Boston and ended up in the home of Merrill “Bill” Rummel, a forklift operator. Unaware of its contents, Rummel took the crate home, later discovering that it contained the painting and hiding it in his closet. As the missing Picasso drew the attention of the FBI and the Winter Hill Gang, Rummel and his fiancée panicked. Could this accidental Picasso thief avoid both the mob and the FBI?What happened next was a sort of reverse heist. Stealing this painting was easy—it was actually an accident.The tricky part was devising a foolproof plan to return it without getting arrested or killed. This book, co- authored by Whit Rummel Jr. and best-selling author and art crime expert Noah Charney, tells the full story and looks at incidents of art theft in the United States, putting this quirky crime into context.ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Whit Rummel Jr. is an award-winning screenwriter and film maker. After graduating with a Master’s in Film from Boston University, he began his career as a documentarian. His first project, TATOO, was a quirky 16mm film about heavily tattooed people that aired nationally on the PBS series, Independent Focus. He went on to establish WHITCOM Associates, a Boston-based production house specializing in innovative programming for corporate and commercial clients. His first screenplay, Secret Boy, was awarded the Nicholl Fellowship from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He was contracted by Disney Toon studios to script an animated feature calls Pigs Might Fly.

From self-trained lawyer to Supreme Court Justice and chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials — Robert H. Jackson’s life reshaped American jurisprudence.On this episode of Speaking of Writers, legal historian G. Edward White discusses his new biography Robert H. Jackson: A Life in Judgment, exploring Jackson’s defense of the New Deal, his dissent in Korematsu, his role in Brown v. Board of Education, and his historic leadership at Nuremberg.A fascinating look at law, courage, and constitutional principle.#RobertHJackson #GEDwardWhite #LegalHistory #SupremeCourt #Nuremberg #SpeakingOfWriters

Acclaimed and award-winning author Nick Petrie is back with another propulsive thriller in his bestselling Peter Ash series. At the suggestion of his girlfriend, June Cassidy, Peter rides to the aid of an investigative reporter who may have stumbled on a story more explosive than even he can handle in THE DARK TIME.Nick Petrie is the author of nine novels in the Peter Ash series, most recently The Price You Pay. His debut, The Drifter, won both the ITW Thriller award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel, and was a finalist for the Edgar and the Hammett Awards. A husband and father, he lives in the Milwaukee area.#nickpetrie #authors #authorpodcast #speakingofwriterspodcast #novels