• Romance and Military Thriller with Kristie Wolf, Episode #80
    Dec 19 2025

    Books and Brews: the place where beer and literature meet!
    Kristie Wolf weaves tales about fearless heroes and badass heroines who fight for justice and love while burning up the pages. Kristie's passion for writing romance ignited during her teenage years when she told her mom she was going to write a novel someday. She did, and now she can't stop. As the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran, wife of a Marine, and Navy mom, she enjoys writing happily ever afters for not just military heroes, but for all the brave, loyal, and selfless men and women who serve and protect our country in every capacity.

    We talked about why people do or don't, can or can't, fall in love, military sci-fi vs reality, PTSD, cowboys, horses and boots…and more!

    00:00 START
    05:04 Drink 1: Strawberry Buttercream Martini
    08:19 Reading 1: The Stolen Cake
    16:30 Does the technology exist for VIPER's amputees' new limbs?
    17:30 Ethics, Experimentation and Improving Quality of Life
    25:59 Drink 2: Empress and Tonic
    25:13 Reading 2: Kane to the Rescue
    34:41 PTSD and Stalkers
    37:41 Men as Protectors, Trust
    40:25 Tropes in Romance
    43:22 Drink 3: Grogg or Mulled Spiced Wine
    46:51 Reading 3: Christmas with a Cowboy
    51:00 The Naked Cowboy of Gooseberry Falls
    52:51 Our Experiences with Horses

    Visit our PATREON for our extended AFTER HOURS with Ashley and Andrea
    Www.booksandbrews.net
    www.lauravosika.com
    www.gabrielshornpress.com
    www.glenmirrilfarms.wordpress.com
    Www.kristiewolf.com
    ~ ~
    If you enjoy our interviews or have benefited from them, we invite you to help us continue our work. It takes a great deal of time and money to produce Books and Brews. We've been doing interviews since January 2017 as a free service to authors. We continue to promote those authors on our social media for years after their interviews. Subscribing, following, liking, commenting and sharing all help us to keep doing what we do.
    A $5 tip helps us pay for our many expenses: Libsyn hosting, web hosting, Google meets, providing the drinks for the interview and the many hours of preparation and editing that go into each episode.
    Patreon: patreon.com/BooksandBrewswithLauraVosika
    Tip Jar: paypal.me/booksandbrewsMN * Books and Brews products:
    https://www.zazzle.com/store/books_an… (more to come)
    Sponsor an episode to promote your product or service: contact us booksandbrewslive@gmail.com
    COMING NEXT MONTH:
    Kristie Wolf, thrillers
    UPCOMING EVENTS:
    Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: CHILDREN
    See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk
    Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

    Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get notifications of all our new videos. We have now interviewed more than 115 authors! Would you like to be featured? Leave a comment.

    https://www.youtube.com/@booksandbrews

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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Episode #79: Jake Needham on Crime & Character
    Nov 18 2025

    Books and Brews: the place where beer and literature meet!


    Jake Needham is an American lawyer who became a screen and television writer through a series of coincidences too ridiculous for anyone to believe. When he realized how little he actually liked movies and television, he started writing crime novels.


    Jake has lived in Asia and Australia since 1980, first in Sydney, then in Hong Kong, and from 1992, in Bangkok. He and his wife, an Oxford graduate and prematurely retired concert pianist, have been married for thirty-two years and have two adult sons. Jake has published seventeen novels that have collectively sold over a million copies. You see? The great tradition of the American expat novelist isn't entirely dead yet.


    We talked about masks (psychological, not covid), childhood trauma, plastic surgery…and Aquanet wiggling into tight pants in the 80! (And more!)

    00:00 START
    05:30 Drink 1: Mango Cinnamon Margarita
    08:11 Reading 1: Charlie and the Dogs
    13:48 From law to writing for film & TV
    24:27 Character-driven fiction
    25:05 Drink 2: Singapore Sling
    28:24 Reading 2: A Hot Day in Singapore
    33:31 Misbehaving Characters: Plotting and Pantsing
    41:20 Cultural differences and life in Singapore
    44:40 Drink 3: The Zombie
    48:18 Reading 3: Charlie Trust
    56:16 Living next door to Farrah Fawcett
    58:01 Law, the legal system, and justice

    Visit our PATREON for our extended AFTER HOURS with Ashley and Andrea
    Www.booksandbrews.net
    www.lauravosika.com
    www.gabrielshornpress.com
    www.glenmirrilfarms.wordpress.com
    Www.jakeneedhamnovels.com


    ~ ~
    If you enjoy our interviews or have benefitted from them, we invite you to help us continue our work. It takes a great deal of time and money to produce Books and Brews. We've been doing interviews since January 2017 as a free service to authors. We continue to promote those authors on our social media for years after their interviews. Subscribing, following, liking, commenting and sharing all help us to keep doing what we do.
    A $5 tip helps us pay for our many expenses: Libsyn hosting, web hosting, Google meets, providing the drinks for the interview and the many hours of preparation and editing that go into each episode.
    Patreon: patreon.com/BooksandBrewswithLauraVosika
    Tip Jar: paypal.me/booksandbrewsMN * Books and Brews products:
    https://www.zazzle.com/store/books_an… (more to come)
    Sponsor an episode to promote your product or service: contact us booksandbrewslive@gmail.com


    COMING NEXT MONTH:
    Kristie Wolf, thrillers


    UPCOMING EVENTS:
    Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: CHILDREN
    See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk


    Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

    Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get notifications of all our new videos. We have now interviewed more than 115 authors! Would you like to be featured? Leave a comment.

    https://www.youtube.com/@booksandbrews

    Show More Show Less
    1 min
  • Episode #78: Technology & Truth & a Paranormal Thriller with Ashley Fontainne & Andrea Emmes
    Oct 27 2025

    Books and Brews: the place where beer and literature meet!
    Ashley Fontainne is an author and co-author of more than 30 novels, known for her intricate plots and writing in genres from dark comedy to mystery/thrillers to suspenseful paranormal.

    Andrea Emmes, a singer, performer and one-time magician's assistant who has narrated many of Ashley's books, steps into writing for the first time with their co-authored paranormal and psychological thriller, ETERNAL BEAUTY.

    We talked about masks (psychological, not covid), childhood trauma, plastic surgery…and Aquanet wiggling into tight pants in the 80! (And more!)

    00:00 START
    06:26 Drink 1: The Exorcist
    09:35 Reading 1: Bridget
    16:17 Technology & Truth: how much of what we see isn't real?
    23:45 Ashley's most meaningful book
    25:51 Drink 2: Witch's Brew
    30:30 Reading 2: Claire
    37:29 Abused children, trauma & the brain
    39:03 Claire & plastic surgery
    44:25 Drink 3: The Bulge in My Pants
    46:58 Reading 3: Barbara
    52:35 Why the story is set in the near future
    55:14 Women & other women; women & men & love & sex

    Visit our PATREON for our extended AFTER HOURS with Ashley and Andrea
    Www.booksandbrews.net
    www.lauravosika.com
    www.gabrielshornpress.com
    www.glenmirrilfarms.wordpress.com
    Www.ashleyfontainne.net
    Www.andreaemmes.com

    GET THE BOOK: https://bit.ly/42AqEF3

    AUDIO: https://www.audible.com/pd/Eternal-Beauty-Audiobook/B0FV4W68M5

    ~ ~ ~

    • If you enjoy our interviews or have benefitted from them, we invite you to help us continue our work. It takes a great deal of time and money to produce Books and Brews. We've been doing interviews since January 2017 as a free service to authors. We continue to promote those authors on our social media for years after their interviews. Subscribing, following, liking, commenting and sharing all help us to keep doing what we do.
    • A $5 tip helps us pay for our many expenses: Libsyn hosting, web hosting, Google meets, providing the drinks for the interview and the many hours of preparation and editing that go into each episode.
    • Patreon: patreon.com/BooksandBrewswithLauraVosika
    • Tip Jar: paypal.me/booksandbrewsMN
    • Books and Brews products:
      https://www.zazzle.com/store/books_an… (more to come)
    • Sponsor an episode to promote your product or service: contact us booksandbrewslive@gmail.com

    COMING NEXT MONTH:
    Jake Needham, counter-terrorism and action thrillers

    UPCOMING EVENTS:
    Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: CHILDREN
    See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk

    Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

    Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get notifications of all our new videos. We have now interviewed more than 115 authors! Would you like to be featured? Leave a comment.

    https://www.youtube.com/@booksandbrews

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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Episode #77: One Family's Story of Jack the Ripper, with Robert Gereb
    Sep 30 2025

    Books and Brews: the place where beer and literature meet!


    Róbert Geréb is a boundary-pushing author and accomplished AI developer. As co-author of Jack the Ripper's Assassins—the cornerstone of The Dighton Chronicles, built on multigenerational oral history from a Romani-Viking lineage—he melds immersive storytelling with rigorous historical research. He also penned two nonfiction guides through Aspect Books: EASY MILLIONAIRE MATH, a practical blueprint for building scalable, passive-income businesses; and Declutter Your Life, Enrich Your Soul, an emotionally holistic program for simplifying your surroundings, finances, and relationships for deeper personal growth.

    00:00 START
    09:35 Drink 1: the Ripper's Fog
    13:38 Reading 1: Game Shooting with Prince Albert Victor
    20:20 How a Transylvanian got involved with an English Romani family's history
    24:50 What did you know about Jack the Ripper before meeting the Dightons?
    26:16 Drink 2: Mary's Last Night
    29:41 Reading 2: When Caroline First Met the Prince
    36:03 Some stories are too strange to be anything but true
    40:38 Why he let her live
    42:44 Drink 3: Autumn Ripper
    45:53 Reading 3: What Started it All
    52:13 Other theories on who Jack the Ripper was
    55:15 Why do some stories capture our imagination for centuries?

    Visit our PATREON for our extended AFTER HOURS with Robert Gereb and other authors


    Https://jacktherippersassassins.com
    Www.booksandbrews.net
    www.lauravosika.com
    www.gabrielshornpress.com
    www.glenmirrilfarms.wordpress.com


    ~ ~


    If you enjoy our interviews or have benefitted from them, we invite you to help us continue our work. It takes a great deal of time and money to produce Books and Brews. We've been doing interviews since January 2017 as a free service to authors. We continue to promote those authors on our social media for years after their interviews. Subscribing, following, liking, commenting and sharing all help us to keep doing what we do.

    • A $5 tip helps us pay for our many expenses: Libsyn hosting, web hosting, Google meets, providing the drinks for the interview and the many hours of preparation and editing that go into each episode.
    • Patreon: patreon.com/BooksandBrewswithLauraVosika
    • Tip Jar: paypal.me/booksandbrewsMN
    • Books and Brews products:
      https://www.zazzle.com/store/books_an… (more to come)
    • Sponsor an episode to promote your product or service: contact us booksandbrewslive@gmail.com

    COMING NEXT MONTH:
    Ashley Fontaine and Andrea Emmes, supernatural thriller

    UPCOMING EVENTS:
    Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: CHILDREN
    See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk


    Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

    Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get notifications of all our new videos. We have now interviewed more than 115 authors! Would you like to be featured? Leave a comment.

    https://www.youtube.com/@booksandbrews

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Episode #76: Family Secrets Come to Light with Hiram Johnson
    Aug 7 2025

    Books and Brews: the place where beer and literature meet!

    Hiram Johnson is retired law enforcement officer, currently teaching criminal justice as an adjunct, a father, author and creator. His book Reason to Fight: a search or truth is a surprising tale of a family mystery.

    We talked about the event that landed his grandmother in prison for murder, prison conditions for women in the 1920s, his search for his shrouded family history and the connection he developed with a previously unknown relative in the search for his grandfather's identity.


    Find Hiram's books at Xulonpress.com

    00:00 START
    06:26 Drink 1: the Blank Slate
    8:14 Reading 1: Asking Daddy for the Truth
    12:41 A quest leads to murder and miscegenation,
    20:56 Creative non-fiction: fact vs conjecture
    26:07 Drink 2: the Pot of Gold
    28:50 Reading 2: My Mother Bernice
    33:30 the need to know our family history
    37:20 Did Fred's father ever know the truth?
    39:31 Drink 3: The Last Word
    42:55 Reading 3: What Started it All
    47:50 Convicted…for self-defense?
    51:30 How Bernice faced the injustice

    Visit our PATREON for our extended AFTER HOURS with Hiram Johnson


    Www.xulonpress.com
    www.lauravosika.com
    www.gabrielshornpress.com
    www.booksandbrews.net


    ~ ~ ~


    If you enjoy our interviews or have benefitted from them, we invite you to help us continue our work. It takes a great deal of time and money to produce Books and Brews. We've been doing interviews since January 2017 as a free service to authors. We continue to promote those authors on our social media for years after their interviews.

    • Subscribing, following, liking, commenting and sharing all help us to keep doing what we do.
    • A $5 tip helps us pay for our many expenses: Libsyn hosting, web hosting, Google meets, providing the drinks for the interview and the many hours of preparation and editing that go into each episode.
    • Patreon: patreon.com/BooksandBrewswithLauraVosika
    • Tip Jar: paypal.me/booksandbrewsMN
    • Books and Brews products:
      https://www.zazzle.com/store/books_an… (more to come)
    • Sponsor an episode to promote your product or service: contact us booksandbrewslive@gmail.com


    COMING NEXT MONTH:
    Sam Ritchie…if walls could talk! To her, they do!


    UPCOMING EVENTS:
    Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: CHILDREN
    See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk on YouTube


    Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

    Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get notifications of all our new videos. We have now interviewed 115 authors! Would you like to be featured? Leave a comment.

    https://www.youtube.com/@booksandbrews

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Books and Brews #75: UFOs with Dona Masi
    Jul 24 2025

    Dona Masi is a writer and editor whose short fiction and articles are used in reading and writing assessments throughout the United States.


    Her articles on several subjects have appeared in several newspapers. She is also a playwright, and two of her plays were performed at the Provincetown Theater Company.
    In her writing she loves bringing relatable characters to life and depicting them in all their heroic and flawed humanity. Her debut novel, The Taking, was inspired by her interest in UFO folklore and reports of alien encounters. She lives with her husband in Dover, New Hampshire.

    00:00 START
    03:54 Drink 1: The Iron Stove
    07:19 Reading 1: John is Late from Work as 7-Year-Old Vera Waits
    13:45 What inspired Dona's interest in UFOs
    14:20 Dona's personal experience
    23:24 Physical evidence of UFO experiences
    26:47 Drink 2: The Hockey Puck
    29:53 Reading 2: RJ Playing Hockey on the Lake
    32:26 ALL…THAT…SNOW! Reactions from other parts of the country?
    39:38 Inspiration for the novel & psychology of alien abductees
    41:13 Drink 3: The Artist's Shack
    42:54 Reading 3: Peter's Choice
    47:48 Endings with no clear answer
    51:27 Different types of aliens


    Visit our PATREON for AFTER HOURS with many of our authors


    www.donamasi.com
    www.lauravosika.com
    www.gabrielshornpress.com
    www.booksandbrews.net
    ~ ~

    If you enjoy our interviews or have benefited from them, we invite you to help us continue our work. It takes a great deal of time and money to produce Books and Brews. We've been doing interviews since January 2017 as a free service to authors. We continue to promote those authors on our social media for years after their interviews. Subscribing, following, liking, commenting and sharing all help us to keep doing what we do.

    A $5 tip helps us pay for our many expenses: Libsyn hosting, web hosting, Google meets, providing the drinks for the interview and the many hours of preparation and editing that go into each episode.

    Patreon: patreon.com/BooksandBrewswithLauraVosika
    Tip Jar: paypal.me/booksandbrewsMN

    • Books and Brews products:
      https://www.zazzle.com/store/books_an… (more to come)
    • Sponsor an episode to promote your product or service: contact us booksandbrewslive@gmail.com


    COMING NEXT MONTH:
    Hiram Johnson tells the story of is grandmother, sentenced almost 100 years ago, for murdering another woman—why she did it, life in a women's prison in Mississippi, and the impact for generations to come.


    UPCOMING EVENTS:
    Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: CHILDREN.
    See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk
    See Laura's interview with Rob & Joan Carter at INDIE NOVEL SOURCE


    Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Books and Brews #74: Sci-fi and More with Bill McSciFi McCormick
    Jun 19 2025

    Books and Brews: the place where beer and literature meet!


    Bill McCormick is an award-winning and critically acclaimed author of several novels, graphic novels, and comic book series, and has appeared in numerous anthologies. He began writing professionally in 1986 for the Chicago Rocker Magazine in conjunction with his radio show on Z-95 (ABC-FM) and went on to write for several other magazines and blogs. He wrote a twisted news & science blog at WorldNewsCenter.org. It provided source material for his weekly radio show on WBIG 1280 AM, FOX!, which aired for 12 years.

    We talked about domestic scenes in sci-fi, PTSD, creating chimeras (in fiction and in reality!) and much more.

    00:00 START
    05:32 Drink 1: Blighter Bob
    7:41 Reading 1: Opening Up About War
    15:05 Creating Chimeras
    18:58 Talking about PTSD
    22:31 Drink 2: The Lone Tree
    25:48 Reading 2: Goptri of the Mists
    31:08 Choosing Names in Sci-Fi
    37:13 Living with No Regrets
    42:32 Drink 3: The Bosom Caresser
    45:19 Reading 3: The Writer's Stuff: Let's Get the Writer!
    50:36 An exception to allow PG-13

    Visit our PATREON for our extended AFTER HOURS with Bill McSciFi McCormick


    Www.billmcscifi.com
    www.lauravosika.com
    www.gabrielshornpress.com
    www.booksandbrews.net
    ~ ~


    If you enjoy our interviews or have benefitted from them, we invite you to help us continue our work. It takes a great deal of time and money to produce Books and Brews. We've been doing interviews since January 2017 as a free service to authors. We continue to promote those authors on our social media for years after their interviews. Subscribing, following, liking, commenting and sharing all help us to keep doing what we do.


    A $5 tip helps us pay for our many expenses: Libsyn hosting, web hosting, Google meets, providing the drinks for the interview and the many hours of preparation and editing that go into each episode.


    Patreon: patreon.com/BooksandBrewswithLauraVosika

    Tip Jar: paypal.me/booksandbrewsMN

    Books and Brews products:
    https://www.zazzle.com/store/books_an… (more to come)
    Sponsor an episode to promote your product or service: contact us booksandbrewslive@gmail.com


    COMING NEXT MONTH:
    Dona Masi, fiction on UFO abduction


    UPCOMING EVENTS:
    Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: CHILDREN

    See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk


    Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Books and Brews #73: Monsters & Appalachian Lore Come to Life with Clay Gilbert
    May 27 2025

    Books and Brews: the place where beer and literature meet!


    Clay Gilbert has always believed in the power of the imagination to dissolve differences and forge connections between people. Since 2013, he has published thirteen novels, from science-fiction and horror to YA dystopia and urban fantasy.


    His works include the science-fiction series Children of Evohe, which began in 2013 with Annah and the Children of Evohe, as well as the horror novel Dark Road to Paradise and the dark fantasy novel Pearl: A Monster Story.


    Clay lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee, where his cat, Rosalind, insists on quality-checking each new book (and helped him with one of his readings on our show!)

    We talked about Appalachian legend & lore, making monsters sympathetic & more! Grab your favorite drink and join us!

    00:00 START
    07:33 Drink 1: Pearl Essence
    10:29 Reading 1: Pearl in the Woods
    16:55 Addressing Deeper Issues through Sci-fi & Fantasy
    23:30 All About the Holler-Bairnies
    27:03 Drink 2: Rabbit's Garden
    29:53 Reading 2: Pearl Catches a Rabbit
    33:44 Pearl's Wisdom: Seeing the Good Despite the Bad
    35:34 The Monster Voice
    37:55 Drink 3: The Appalachian Holler
    41:18 Reading 3: Matt Reflects on Mama Leotie's Story of Holler-Bairnies
    47:16 Why are we fascinated by the dark and mysterious?
    51:29 Do You Believe….Sasquatch, the Flood

    Visit our PATREON for our extended AFTER HOURS with Clay Gilbert

    www.lauravosika.com
    www.gabrielshornpress.com
    www.booksandbrews.net

    Find Clay at amazon:
    https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00BS1N1W4/about?ccs_id=35e83ccd-6d34-40d1-a6a0-52139f34823
    ~ ~


    If you enjoy our interviews or have benefitted from them, we invite you to help us continue our work. It takes a great deal of time and money to produce Books and Brews. We've been doing interviews since January 2017 as a free service to authors. We continue to promote those authors on our social media for years after their interviews. Subscribing, following, liking, commenting and sharing all help us to keep doing what we do.


    A $5 tip helps us pay for our many expenses: Libsyn hosting, web hosting, Google meets, providing the drinks for the interview and the many hours of preparation and editing that go into each episode.


    Patreon: patreon.com/BooksandBrewswithLauraVosika


    Tip Jar: paypal.me/booksandbrewsMN

    Books and Brews products:
    https://www.zazzle.com/store/books_an… (more to come)

    Sponsor an episode to promote your product or service: contact us booksandbrewslive@gmail.com


    COMING NEXT MONTH:
    Bill McCormick, author of sci-fi, graphic novels, comic books, blogger & former radio host

    UPCOMING EVENTS:


    Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: CHILDREN
    See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk
    See Laura's interview with Rob & Joan Carter at INDIE NOVEL SOURCE
    Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 2 mins