With me on this first episode of Writers at Work of the new year is Lauren Rothery, author of TELEVISION, her debut novel.

If you visit laurenrothery.net, you'll find links to a number of short films she wrote and directed. As for TELEVISION, it's an intriguing, cleverly told novel about Verity, a famous actor who, after appearing in a hit film he detests, announces he will hold a lottery to give away the $80 million he stands to make from the picture.

Another primary character is Helen, an insightful, often cynical woman on the periphery of the entertainment business, and who Verity wishes were his wife. Then comes Phoebe, an aspiring screenwriter who can't seem to stop fantasizing about writing in order to actually write. The novel has a lived-in feel, in which we, the readers, swim in the characters' thoughts that are often mundane, occasionally astute, and always revealing.

As we approach the end of 2025, a special edition of Writers at Work. I speak with four writers I've known for almost 25 years: Peter Blauner, Reed Farrel Coleman, S.J. Rozan, and Peter Spiegelman. They are much-admired authors of mystery and crime fiction, with whom I've consulted and commiserated, and who have consulted and commiserated with each other as our careers as novelists careen like cars on a roller coaster.

If Writers at Work is about the joys, heartaches, challenges, and satisfaction of the creative writing process, they can discuss those outcomes in great and intimate detail. Peter, Reed, S.J., and Peter have experienced the highs the life of a novelist can bring. Publication by admirable houses, rave reviews, awards, the attention of Hollywood, and most importantly, the loyalty of readers.

They've also experienced the lows of the writer's life. Being dropped by those admirable houses, an absence of review, no nominations for awards, and silence from the film community. Thank goodness for those readers who remain true. To be a novelist is to be a solitary figure beset by uncertainty and doubt. To paraphrase Nietzsche, when you stare into a blank screen, the blank screen stares into you.

Peter, Reed, S.J., and Peter possess what I consider to be the most essential traits of a successful novelist, willfulness, courage, and a belief in their work regardless of whatever obstacles they may face. Let's find out how they do what they do and what they've learned from their experiences.

My guest on this episode of Writers at Work is Grammy winning music scholar, Rob Bowman, whose new book is LAND OF A THOUSAND SESSIONS: THE COMPLETE MUSCLE SHOALS STORY 1951-1985. If the role of Muscle Shoals, a town in Northwest Alabama, in modern music history doesn't immediately pop to mind, allow me to mention a few of the landmark tracks recorded there.

When A Man Loves a Woman by Percy Sledge, Land of a Thousand Dances by Wilson Pickett, You Better Move On by Arthur Alexander, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You by Aretha Franklin, I'll Take You There by the Staple Singers, I'd Rather Go Blind by Etta James, If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Right by Luther Ingram.

And then came the 1970s. In pursuit of the earthy funk sound captured in those studios, the rock and pop world invaded and the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker, Jimmy Cliff, Paul Simon, and Bob Seger cut major hits there with members of the fame house band sitting in.

Then country came calling. Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., Mac Davis, Jerry Reed, and so on. To say Rob captures it all doesn't quite get it. Clocking in at 762 pages, including essential indices and with its fluid narrative style, LAND OF A THOUSAND SESSIONS at times feels like a minute-by-minute history.

Fortified with a generous supply of photography and printed on beautiful stock, the book is as appealing as it is essential. As a fan of the music made in Muscle Shoals, and as a music journalist, I loved it. In addition to his Grammy nominated liner notes that are worthy of independent publication, Rob is also the author of SOULSVILLE USA: THE STORY OF STAX RECORDS and THE LAST SOUL COMPANY: THE MALACO RECORDS STORY.