Gone by Michael Grant is a gripping dystopian novel in which everyone over the age of fifteen suddenly disappears from a small California town, leaving the kids to survive on their own inside a mysterious barrier. As food runs out and strange powers begin to emerge, the remaining children must confront fear, chaos, and the struggle for control in a world with no adults.

Fiona Fenn is an author of fantasy novels that put complicated “heroes” front and center. A fan of villains, redemption arcs, and intense explorations of healing in all its forms, her debut novel,

The Crack at the Heart of Everything, is a love letter to every villain who wanted to do better but never got the chance. The City that Shattered the World is the second book in the series and will be coming out in October 2026!

Drink Blackberry Survival Smash

Ingredients

2 oz bourbon or dark rum

¾ oz fresh lemon juice

½ oz honey syrup

4–5 blackberries (muddled)

2–3 mint leaves

Splash of soda water

Instructions

Muddle blackberries, mint, and honey syrup in a shaker.

Add bourbon and lemon juice with ice.

Shake well and strain into a rocks glass over ice.

Top with a splash of soda and garnish with a blackberry.

In This Episode

Sarah J. Maas

The Spoken World Podcast - Michael Grant Episode

Sweet Valley High Books

Heated Rivalry

Our Rogue Fates by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Style Weekly Best of Richmond - Vote!

Tickets to Live Show with Meg Medina April 18th

On Beauty by Zadie Smith follows two feuding families—the liberal Belseys and the conservative Kippses—whose lives collide in a New England university town, exploring themes of race, family, politics, and love through sharp satire and witty dialogue.

Kirkus Reviews calls Marriage and Other Monuments, Virginia Pye’s recently published book, “A fascinating and audacious novel of family, marriage and a society in flux.” It is a #1 Amazon bestseller in New Southern FictionVirginia’s essays have appeared in The New York Times, Literary Hub, Publisher’s Weekly, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. She has taught writing at New York University and the University of Pennsylvania, and, most recently, at GrubStreet in Boston. Virginia is Fiction Editor of the literary journal Pangyrus and serves on the board of the Women’s National Book Association, Boston Chapter.

Drink this week: The Zadie Smith - obvi! This recipe is from the book: Free the Tipple: Kickass Cocktails Inspired by Iconic Women - Check it out!

In this Episode

Marriage and Other Monuments by Virginia Pye

Style Weekly Best of Richmond 2026

Free the Tipple: Kickass Cocktails Inspired by Iconic Women

Tickets to Live Show with Meg Medina April 18th

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica is a dystopian horror novel where a virus makes all animal meat poisonous, leading to the legalization and industrialization of human cannibalism! Yes, it’s quite a story by Argentine author Bazterrica, but it also does what great horror does so well, that it makes you think about parallels in our real world, and led to an amazing conversation between myself and author Ashley Peters!

Author Ashley Peters resides in East Austin, Texas, with her partner, Danny, and their three rescue mutts—Bently, Fredrik, and Bruno. A self-declared bibliophile and lifelong storyteller, she has been crafting tales since childhood, along the way writing for various scholarships and minor publications before fully committing herself to the realm of novel creation.

When she is not writing, she can be found immersed in nature, far from the noise of the world—hiking, kayaking, savoring inventive cuisine, or enjoying a matcha latte. At home, her garden and personal library serve as sanctuaries, though she deeply appreciates the artistic and quirky spirit that defines Austin. Having traveled extensively, she credits each place and community with shaping her life in meaningful and lasting ways. While she cannot predict what lies ahead, she embraces each new chapter as an opportunity for adventure, always ready to choose a daring side quest over a mundane path.

Our drink is a very dark Blackberry Margarita, and the reason we picked it? Well, I’ll let you figure that one out 😂

Blackberry Margarita

Ingredients

2 oz silver tequila

1 oz fresh lime juice

1 oz blackberry syrup

0.5 oz grenadine

Black sugar, for rimming

Crushed ice

Fresh blackberries, for garnish

Directions

Prepare your glass. Use a lime wedge to moisten the rim of a margarita or cocktail glass. Dip the rim into a shallow plate of black sugar, rotating gently to coat evenly. Set aside.

Combine ingredients. In a cocktail shaker, add the silver tequila, fresh lime juice, blackberry syrup, and grenadine. Fill the shaker with crushed ice.

Shake thoroughly. Secure the lid and shake vigorously for 15–20 seconds, until the outside of the shaker feels frosty and the drink is well chilled.

Serve. Fill the prepared glass with fresh crushed ice. Strain the mixture into the glass.

Garnish. Add a few fresh blackberries on top. Serve immediately!

In this Episode

Tickets to my Live Interview with Award Winning Author Meg Medina at the Bon Air Book Festival

Bon Air Book Festival

Monkeypaw Productions

Thrutopian Fiction