Totally Booked with Zibby

Jonathan Santlofer joins Zibby Owens for a deep dive into his new novel Ten Perfect Guests, an immersive, fun, “whodunit” thriller following the aftermath of a beloved art figure’s death and the people summoned to a remote island under threat of losing their inheritance.

Jonathan discusses the challenges of juggling ten different points of views, the joy of playing with familiar tropes like greed, lust, and betrayal, and the beauty of finding empathy for his most villainous characters.

He also recounts the discovery of his mild dyslexia in art school, how losing ten years of his artwork to a building fire eventually led him to writing, and the grief of unexpectedly losing his wife.

Learn more about Jonathan at https://jonathansantlofer.com and follow him on Instagram at @jonathansantlofer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eriq La Salle joins Zibby Owens to discuss his new thriller Laws of Solomon, the fourth book in his Martyr Maker series, which takes a previous side character who was inspired by The Godfather’s Luca Brasi and lifts him up to the lead.

Eriq discusses the ever-present question of ‘can our most villainous, vile characters find redemption?’, the journey of a character’s soul, how his favorite films have inspired his work, and the coming of age story of a man.

He also touches on his transition from actor to author, the duality of his thrillers, and the blessings that come from failure.

Learn more about Eriq here https://www.iameriqlasalle.com and follow him on Instagram @eriqlasalle
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amanda Peters sits down with Zibby Owens to discuss her new novel (and Zibby’s November Book Club pick!) The Birthing Tree, the story of a young girl growing up in a family with secrets, her withdrawal from the grandmother who raised her among the generational traditions of Mi’kmaq women, and what eventually draws her back home as an adult.

Rooted in community and feeling, The Birthing Tree weaves together the chase for identity, connection to home, repairing wounds from the past, and revering not only nature and the land, but the extraordinary feats of the human body.

Amanda touches on how she drew inspiration for this book from a conversation with her own Nan, the importance of tradition within an always advancing modern world, and the terror of writing another book after a bestselling debut.

Join Zibby and Amanda at Zibby’s Book Club on November 11 at 7pm for a virtual Q&A as they dive deeper into The Birthing Tree. Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/zibbys-book-club-amanda-peters-tickets-1994014022619

Learn more about Amanda at https://amandapetersauthor.com and follow her @amandapetersauthor

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Addison Allen’s book Paper Ghosts was, quite fittingly, haunting. We discussed grief, loss, fiction, writing, and more. I left feeling like I had a new friend. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jonah Platt and I both have TV shows on the JBS network which is how we connected for this episode. I’d been dying to interview Jonah about his Jewish advocacy and what he’d learned from interviewing so many leaders in the field. What he answered surprised me. I also learned about how he’s raising his children and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.