In this episode of the Connecticut Book Festivals Podcast, host Jed Doherty welcomes back middle-grade fantasy author Greg Slomba to talk about his brand-new series, the Dragon Island Legend books, beginning with Fire and Ice. Greg explains that this new series grows out of the world of his earlier Deliverers books, particularly The Golden Dragon of Aang, which introduced the mystical Dragon Islands. Each of the five planned stories will focus on a different island, with Fire and Ice serving as a 95-page novella that opens the saga.

Greg introduces listeners to Ben and May, two 15-year-old orphans whose lives were shattered years earlier when raiders from the north, aided by a deadly silver dragon, destroyed their villages. Protected only by the legendary golden dragon, they grow up driven—especially Ben—by a desire for revenge, only to slowly discover how dangerous and consuming that desire can be.

Jed and Greg dive into the challenges of writing a prequel when the later timeline already exists, Greg's more organic, character-driven writing process (as opposed to strict outlining), and the emotional rewards of writing for the middle-grade audience—especially kids who may feel unseen. Greg shares a touching story of a former student reader who still rereads his first book years later.

Listeners also learn where to find Fire and Ice (on Amazon) and how to follow Greg's work via his blog and social media, as the conversation closes on a warm, encouraging note.

On this episode, Jed welcomes author and neuroscientist Gail Martino, whose new picture book "Feathered and Famous: Meet America's All Star Birds" celebrates the national and state birds of the United States and the stories behind them.

Gail explains how her book helps kids (and parents) discover the unique traits that made each bird worthy of representing a state—from the clever chickadee of Massachusetts, which actually grows part of its brain in the fall to help remember where it hid seeds, to the hopeful, homey robin of Connecticut, often seen as a harbinger of spring. She also describes the engineering genius of birds' nests, like robins using mud as "mortar" and the Baltimore oriole's swinging, sock‑like nest that can withstand strong winds.

Gail shares how her father's backyard bird feeder sparked her curiosity as a child, eventually leading her into a career in neuroscience, product development, and innovation consulting—and now to writing books that connect kids to nature, geography, history, and STEM skills. She talks about the importance of teaching kids to observe the world, balancing screen time with real‑world curiosity, and using tools like eBird and Merlin to make birding fun and interactive for families. She also highlights how many state birds, like the brown pelican of Louisiana, have become powerful symbols of conservation success.

In this engaging episode of the Connecticut Book Festivals Podcast, Jed Doherty welcomes AJ Alanson, author of the Admiral Inn mystery and adventure series, to celebrate book ten, Wolf in the Cove.

AJ introduces us to June Faust, a former Treasury Department "super accountant" who buys a derelict mansion on the coast of Maine through a government auction—sight unseen. The locals wish the place had been burned to the ground, but June spends a decade fixing it up, turning it into the Admiral Inn, and slowly (and awkwardly) mending fences with the small-town community. Each book in the planned 12-book series covers a month in June's most transformative year, blending episodic mysteries with a long, emotional arc that includes community secrets, her husband's unsolved murder, and a complicated, late-in-life relationship with an old friend and former director.

AJ shares how the series grew out of her real life: leaving a career in experimental dark matter physics, running an "Airbnb on steroids" that hosted around 800 guests a year, and keeping notes on all the stories that walked through her door. She talks about being a meticulous plotter, why you don't "pants" a 12-book series, and how her time working a mile underground in physics labs and mines keeps sneaking into her fiction.

Jed and AJ also discuss reader-favorite side character Helene, the research behind the books, plans for audiobooks recorded in AJ's own home studio, and a new cozy project featuring an 84-year-old sleuth—narrated by AJ's 84-year-old mom.