We are delighted to share with you our Regal House Publishing podcast platform, A Conspiracy of Lemurs, that celebrates books, readers, writers, publishers, and the writing craft. If you enjoy our podcast, please leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform (links below), and feel free to recommend an episode topic via [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
Our podcast is available on Spotify, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Deezer, Listen Notes, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and TuneIn (and coming on Google and Apple podcasts too!).
Our latest episode: Crossing Boundaries in YA and MG Fiction
Carol Dines, author of The Take-Over Friend, and Ona Gritz, author of August or Forever, join us to discuss the crossing of boundaries in YA and MG Fiction.
Previous Episodes:
Rural Settings: The Rich Opportunity for World Building with Non-Binary Characters
Gary Eldon Peter, author of The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen, and Valerie Nieman, author of In the Lonely Backwater, join us for a discussion of rural settings in YA fiction with non-binary characters.
Middle Grade Fiction: Empowering Young Readers
Ginger Park, author of The Hundred Choices Department Store, Frank Morelli, author of Breaking News, and Diana Renn, author of Trouble at Turtle Pond join us for a lively discussion about trends, gatekeepers, and the authenticity of voice in middle grade literature.
Writing About Mortality
We are delighted to welcome Michele Herman, author of Save the Village, Laraine Herring, author of A Constellation of Ghosts: A Speculative Memoir with Ravens, and David R. Roth, author of The Femme Fatale Hypothesis to discuss mortality in literature.
Education in Literature
M.B. McLatchey‘s memoir Beginner’s Mind and Kevin McIntosh‘s novel Class Dismissed address similar educational themes and explore some of the same tensions in and out of the classroom. We will be exploring the philosophical threads of these education-themed literary works.
Navigating the Indie Publishing Scene: the publisher, editor, and author relationship with Jon Sealy, founder of Haywire Books & author Heather Bell Adams
Jon Sealy, founder of Haywire Books and author of The Edge of America, The Whiskey Baron, So You Want to Be a Novelist, and The Merciful, joins us to discuss the indie publishing scene. Joining us, too, is Heather Bell Adams, author of Maranatha Road and The Good Luck Stone (published by Haywire Books).
All Hail the Mighty Underpup: Writing the Underdog Hero in Children’s Literature
Author of our 2019 Kraken Book Prize-winning title, Thomas Creeper and the Gloomsbury Secret, J.R. Potter will be joining us on A Conspiracy of Lemurs to chat about would-be heroes in crisis, heroes who have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We’ll explore the role of the underdog hero in middle grade fiction and the lessons we can learn from them at any stage in our lives. Tune In Now.
The impact of the pandemic on writers and artists, individually and in community.
Joey Garcia and Joni Renee Whitworth, contributors to the upcoming upcoming release (Her)oics: Women’s Lived Experiences During the Coronavirus Pandemic, will be joining us to discuss the impact of the pandemic on their experience and work as writers and artists, individually and in community. Joey Garcia is an author, writing coach, and speaker certified in spiritual counseling and meditation. She is also the founder of the Belize Writers Conference. Joni Renee Whitworth is an artist and writer from rural Oregon. They have performed at The Moth, the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts, and the Museum of Contemporary Art alongside Marina Abramovic. They are the founders of Future Prairie, a queer art museum. Tune in Now.
Surviving Racism in a Global Pandemic: Being Black or Brown in America during the Coronavirus
Alicia Mosley and Ella deCastro Baron, contributors to the upcoming release (Her)oics: Women’s Lived Experiences During the Coronavirus Pandemic, and Joanell Serra, coeditor of (Her)oics, (Pact Press, March 2021) will discuss their contributed stories: “Mosley’s Mothering while Black during the Pandemic” and deCastro Baron’s “Bahala Na.” In conversation with Pam and Jaynie, they will consider the impact culture and race had on their communities’ experience of the pandemic. Ella deCastro Baron is a second generation Filipinx American professor and author living in San Diego, California. Alicia Mosley is a poet and fiction writer, a mother of four, and a community educator. She earned her MEd in Curriculum Development and MFA in Creative Writing from the University of California, Riverside. Tune in Now.
The Nuances of Political Literature
Julie Wittes Shlack, author of This-All-at-Onceness joins Jaynie and Pam to discuss and ins and outs of political literature – how it may be differentiated from propaganda, it’s role in society, and its ability to endure and resonate beyond that political time.
The Road to Redemption: Landscape, Culture and Catastrophe As Catalysts For Character Development
From our Southern Mash Literature Series: Rebecca Baum, author of Lifelike Creatures, and Karol Hoeffner, author of Knee Deep, discuss the use of landscape, culture and catastrophe as catalysts for character development; and how narrative point of view shapes the reader’s experience of that journey. Tune In Now.
Traveling in Place – Stories in Which Place takes a Significant Role
Jan Alexander, author of Ms. Ming’s Guide to Civilization, and Karen Quevillon, author of The Parasol Flower, will be our guests on A Conspiracy of Lemurs to discuss the role of place in literary fiction. Tune In Now.
Historical Fiction Series: In a Moment of Madness – Exploring Mental Illness in Gothic Literature
Melanie Cossey, author of A Peculiar Curiosity, and Lillah Lawson, author of Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree, join us on A Conspiracy of Lemurs to discuss the role of madness in Victorian and Southern Gothic literature. Tune In Now.
Historical Fiction Series: Historical Fiction or Historical Truth?
Karen Quevillon, author of The Parasol Flower, and Mitchell James Kaplan, author of Into the Unbounded Night, discuss the writing of history vs. the writing of “tales.” As a novelist, are you working with “official” history, working against the grain of it, or doing something else entirely…? Tune In Now.
Remembering Mama: Growing up in South Los Angeles
Dr. Mary Hill-Wagner joins us on A Conspiracy of Lemurs to discuss the inspiration behind her upcoming publication, Girlz n’ the Hood: A Memoir of Mama and the challenges she faced in bringing this project to fruition. Tune In Now.
*this podcast episode contains some explicit language
Walking the Tightrope: The Challenges of Memoir
Jane Bernstein, author of The Face Tells the Secret, and Julie Wittes Schlack, author of This All-at-Onceness, join us on A Conspiracy of Lemurs to talk about the challenges of writing memoirs. Tune In Now.
Poetry. Holding a River & Irreverent Prayers: Martha Kalin & Zack Rogow in Conversation
We are delighted to host a conversation between Martha Kalin, the 2019 winner of the Terry J. Cox Poetry Award for her poetry collection, How to Hold A Flying River, and Zack Rogow, the judge of the 2019 Terry J. Cox Poetry Award and the author of the poetry collection, Irreverent Litanies. Tune In Now.
Historical Fiction Series: Unhealed Wounds—The Legacy of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Beyond
In our first podcast episode of a four-part series devoted to historical fiction, Jaynie Royal and Pam Van Dyk are delighted to welcome Marlin Barton, author of Children of Dust, and Vicki Lane, author of And the Crows Took Their Eyes, as guests on A Conspiracy of Lemurs. We discuss truth and ambiguity, research and imagination as pertains to the craft of historical fiction and to each of Vicki and Bart’s upcoming novels. Both authors read excerpts from their novels – marvelous readings not to be missed! Tune In Now.
Steven Mayfield, Treasure of the Blue Whale & Writing “small town” America
Steven Mayfield, author of Treasure of the Blue Whale, discusses writing “small town” America, Depression-era fiction, economic anxiety, and the role of “feel-good” novels. Tune In Now.
The Inspiration Behind (Her)oics: Women’s Lived Experiences During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Jaynie Royal and Pam Van Dyk chat with Amy Roost and Joanell Serra regarding their current submission call for the anthology (Her)oics: Women’s Lived Experiences During the Coronavirus Pandemic. Tune In Now.
Tackling Challenging Topics in Middle Grade Novels-in-Verse
Mary Sullivan, author of High, discussing novels-in-verse, tackling challenging topics for middle-grade readers, poetry vs. prose, and the critical necessity for conversation & communication. Tune In Now.
Writing Under Lockdown.
A discussion about writing under lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic, with RHP authors, Kate Murdoch, author of The Orange Grove, who lives in Australia; Cheryl Ossola, author of The Wild Impossibility, who resides in Italy; Maureen Pilkington, author of This Side of Water, who lives in New York; and Barbara Quick, author of the upcoming book, What Disappears, who lives in California. Tune In Now.
