EPISODE 620 - Jill MacLean - Canadian Author of a Poetry Collection, Non-fiction Historical biography, Young Reader and Young Adult Novels

Jill MacLean is the Canadian author of a poetry collection, a non-fiction historical biography, three novels for young readers, two young adult novels, and The Arrows of Mercy, historical fiction for adults set in medieval England, released in 2023. The Arrows of Fealty, a stand alone sequel to The Arrows of Mercy, will release in September 2024.

Jill MacLean’s somewhat truncated biography:
Although I was born in England in Berkshire (the county where my medieval novel, The Arrows of Mercy, is set), I left there many years ago, and happily took out Canadian citizenship in 1970.

I began writing poetry in the nineties, along with completing a Masters degree in theology, and my poetry collection was published in Manitoba in 2003. My young grandson then asked me to write him a book – and changed the direction of my life. Three middle-grade novels and two Young Adult novels followed in fairly quick succession (you can check them out under Publications).

All five novels were contemporary, four were set in Newfoundland (where my family lived for seventeen years), and four overtly dealt with bullying.

Was I in danger of falling into a literary rut?

If so, what to write next?

The hiatus was frightening; but gradually there surfaced my abiding fascination with the medieval period, and even more gradually characters began to emerge, chief among them Edmund – I know from the beginning he would be an archer. I also knew I wanted to write about war and its aftereffects, as well as plague (this was well before Covid) – and that I did not want to write about aristocrats. Edmund and his cohorts are peasants, serfs, villeins, the lowest of the low.

I read widely about rural life in mid-14th century England, my son drove me around the back lanes of Berkshire in search of the exact setting, and I started to write in 2015. The novel was initially intended for a young adult audience, but morphed into fiction for adults – I wanted no constrictions.

Because I was in love with the research, and assumed you would be too, I wrote a sprawling, unmanageable mess of a novel, and then spent years (literally) cutting it back until it was the length it needed to be.

The Arrows of Mercy was launched.

Although set in 1348, the novel’s themes of plague, PTSD and scorched-earth warfare (think Syria and Ukraine) are all-too relevant to today’s world.

https://jillmaclean.mywriting.network/about-me/

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EPISODE 619 - Alex R. Johnson - Brooklyn Motto A coming-of-age, New York-centric, detective noir debut

ALEX R. JOHNSON
Johnson’s feature film TWO STEP premiered to critical acclaim at SXSW and went on to become a New York Times Critic’s Pick, as well as remaining 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

His screenplay NORTHEAST KINGDOM was selected for the Black List. It was acquired by Paramount Pictures for Platinum Dunes to produce, with Johnson attached to direct.

His screenplay ANY ROUGH TIMES ARE NOW BEHIND YOU was selected by the Austin Film Society’s Artist Intensive lab. There, he spent three days working one-on-one with late director Jonathan Demme, an experience that was as inspiring as it was creatively life changing.

He also wrote the screenplay adaptation of Ernest Tidyman’s novel, BIG BUCKS, for Pascal Pictures.

His debut novel, BROOKLYN MOTTO, will be released in March of 2025.

Prior to writing and directing, Johnson was a seasoned NYC based commercial and documentary producer. He started his career at the legendary Maysles Films and then branched off to work with other directors, including producing the feature documentary I AM SECRETLY AN IMPORTANT MAN for filmmaker Pete Sillen.

Johnson's family hails from the Andes of Ecuador. A government brat, he moved frequently but was raised mostly between New York City and the suburbs of DC.

He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY..

BROOKLYN MOTTO by Alex R. Johnson
Fans of Richard Price, Charlie Huston, and Jonathan Lethem will love this coming-of-age New York-centric detective noir debut from esteemed filmmaker and screenwriter Alex R. Johnson.

New York City, 1998. New York is changing around Nico Kelly, and he can feel more coming.

A private investigator and self-proclaimed photographer, Nico is stuck in a loop of city contracts and self loathing. What little middle class there was is disappearing—long-standing factories are moving out and taking their reliable neighborhood jobs with them, and Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s police force has the streets in a stranglehold.

Nico spends his days looking for fraudsters while taking photos of municipal employees on disability claims. He spends his nights trying to get rid of the nagging feeling that his day job makes him a professional snitch—traversing dive bars, playing pinball, and fighting through the haze of hungover mornings and blurry evenings.

Pushing thirty years old and feeling split between his American and Latin heritage, between youth and adulthood, Nico finds himself at a precipice—who is he and what should he become?

When Nico witnesses and records a murder during one of his insurance fraud investigations, bodies start to turn up all around him and he’s forced into solving a mystery he didn’t ask to solve. Humorous, gritty, and real, Nico’s search for what it means to be human takes him through the deepest and darkest parts of New York City.

https://www.brooklynmotto.com/

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Episode 618 - Heidi Bacon - Ratliner - Fictional Stories with Roots in History, Archaeology, Genealogy

Heidi Bacon is an American novelist who uses her experience as a former Realtor, artist, filmmaker, and researcher and draws on her family history to weave historical fiction stories. When not writing, Heidi likes to paint, teach art classes and oversee The Artist Sanctuary, an arts nonprofit organization that she founded and is Executive Director. Heidi was born and raised in the Midwest and spent a decade in Savannah, GA, where she married and started a family. Three children later, after raising alpacas & other animals in Colorado, having art galleries, and a divorce in Kansas, Heidi and her children relocated to Minnesota, where previous generations of her family had settled. Heidi and her sisters created plays and stories as children, and expressed their creativity through Children’s Theater, Children’s Orchestra, ballet, violin, and piano lessons. As an adult, Heidi has been a Master Naturalist volunteer, worked in the Department of Commerce, Department of Health, and Department of Agriculture, and created murals for Minnesota’s State Parks. Her interest in history, archaeology, genealogy, caving, and cryptozoology inspired her stories.

Book: Ratliner

When Karl Conrad uncovers his grandfather's shocking past after inheriting his estate, he finds himself pulled into a high-stakes quest for justice - and a race to stop sinister forces from unleashing unspeakable evil. Karl teams up with the alluring real estate agent Jessica to return long-lost artifacts to their rightful owners. But neo-Nazi zealots are determined to keep Karl from exposing dark secrets that could upend the world order. Ratliner is a gripping novel of suspense, passion, and redemption. As Karl and Jessica crisscross the country to unravel a mystery, desire ignites even as danger closes in. Can stolen treasures from the past find their way home? Who can Karl trust when his own flesh and blood betrayed humanity? H. Bacon masterfully blends edge-of-your seat thrills with vivid history in this powerful redemption story. Ratliner will keep you guessing until the final page. For readers of adventure, mystery, and second chances, this top-rated book is one you won't want to miss!

https://www.instagram.com/heidibacon1/

https://hangar1publishing.com/blogs/writers/h-bacon?srsltid=AfmBOor7uG-UvvH9E61dlSUSLtqeYsWXuRZKkr9mVzfSAFHXX4wHr1_2

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

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