Author Spotlight Podcast Series
History Through Fiction is proud to announce our upcoming podcast series “Author Spotlight”, featuring fourteen new interviews with historical novelists talking about their books, their craft, and their journeys to publication. New episodes will be released weekly beginning Monday, January 16.
January 16 - Elan Barnehama
Elan Barnehama is a writing and literature professor whose writing has appeared in Rough Cut Press, Red Fez, Boston Accent, Jewish Fiction, Drunk Monkeys, Writer’s Digest, HuffPost, the New York Journal of Books, public radio, and elsewhere. He is a New Yorker by geography and a Mets fan by default. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with Elan about his novel Escape Route which is set in NYC during the late 1960s.
January 23 - Alina Rubin
Alina Rubin is an IT professional and a mom, who, during the pandemic, used the time and energy saved on the commute to write her first book. Alina has a B.S. and M.S. in Business and Information Technology from DePaul University. She lives near Chicago with her husband and daughter. When not working or writing, she enjoys yoga, hiking, and traveling. A Girl with a Knife is her debut novel, the first book of the Hearts and Sails series. She also writes short stories, features about historical women, and personal and travel accounts on her A Girl On Adventure Blog.
January 30 - Joanna Davidson Politano
Joanna Davidson Politano is an author and freelancer who spends much of her time spinning tales that capture the colorful, exquisite details in ordinary lives. Her manuscript for Lady Jayne Disappears was a finalist for several contests, including the 2016 Genesis Award from ACFW, and won the OCW Cascade Award and the Maggie Award for Excellence. She is always on the hunt for random acts of kindness, people willing to share their deepest secrets with a stranger, and hidden stashes of sweets. She lives with her husband and their two children in a house in the woods near Lake Michigan. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with Joanna about her newest novel, The Lost Melody.
February 6 - Ciera Horton McElroy
Ciera Horton McElroy is a shamelessly multi-passionate creative: she’s worked as a collegiate writing instructor, a consultant for film campaigns, a journalist on Capitol Hill, a photographer and painter, and a fiction writer, among other ventures. She served as the Communications Director on the faith campaign for the Academy Award-nominated A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (2019) and also PAUL, APOSTLE OF CHRIST (2017). Ciera has worked as Editor-in-Chief at Kodon literary magazine and The Wheaton Record newspaper. Ciera has also published work in AGNI, The Chattahoochee Review, The Crab Orchard Review, Iron Horse Literary Review, Bridge Eight, Little Fiction, Lumina, and Flash Fiction Magazine among others. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with Ciera about her debut novel, Atomic Family.
February 13 - Gail S. Fraser
Gail S. Fraser is a professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, Toronto, Ontario and conducts interdisciplinary research on extractive industries. She lives in Toronto with her husband, two cats, and occasional house guests. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with Gail about her debut novel, Song for the Widowmaker.
February 20 - Wanda M. Morris
Wanda M. Morris is the acclaimed author of All Her Little Secrets, which won the 2022 Lefty Award for Best Debut Mystery Novel, was a Georgia Author of the Year Finalist for Best First Novel, and has been nominated for an 2022 Anthony Award for Best First Novel. Wanda is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Crime Writers of Color. A corporate attorney, Wanda has worked in the legal departments of some of America’s top Fortune 100 companies. She is an accomplished presenter and leader. As a former President of the Georgia Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel, she established a signature female empowerment program known as the Women’s Initiative. She is married, the mother of three and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with Wanda about her newest novel, Anywhere You Run.
February 27 - Edie Cay
Edie Cay writes hard-hitting Feminist Pugilist Regency Romances. Her debut, A Lady’s Revenge won the Golden Leaf Best First Book in 2020. The next in her series, The Boxer and the Blacksmith won the Hearts Through History Legends Award as an unpublished manuscript in 2019. She has dual BAs in Creative Writing and Music, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She is a member of The Regency Fiction Writers, the Historical Novel Society, and a founding member of Paper Lantern Writers. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with Edie about her genre, her path to publishing, and her love of adventure.
March 6 - Patricia Bernstein
Patricia Bernstein was born in El Paso and grew up in Dallas. She earned a Degree of Distinction in American Studies from Smith College and taught English at Smith for four years before returning to Texas. In Houston she founded a public relations agency and published dozens of articles in media venues as varied as Texas Monthly, Cosmopolitan and The Smithsonian. She is the author of three nonfiction books including Ten Dollars to Hate: The Texas Man Who Fought the Klan which was named one of the 53 best books ever written about Texas by the Austin American Statesman. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with Patricia about her debut novel, A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower.
March 13 - Chaya Rochel Zimmerman
Chaya Rochel Zimmerman was born and raised in Staten Island, New York, by her immigrant Polish father and her Brooklyn-born mother. From an early age, Chaya was drawn to the world of education and its endless possibilities. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Education from Brooklyn College and her Master’s in Math Education from the University of Maryland. Subsequently, she attended Machon Chana and Bais Rivka Seminary in New York to deepen her Jewish knowledge. Her writing takes the common experience of contemporary Jewish Orthodox life, highlighting challenges and illuminating and validating them. In this episode we’ll be chatting with Chaya about her novel The Next Pair of Shoes.
March 20 - David Tory
After 30 years in the computer industry, and 13 years with the Essex County Community Foundation, author David Tory began researching philanthropy in 17th century New England. His research uncovered facts about the early settlements that appeared to be generally unknown. As he delved deeper, the character Isaac Stanfield evolved to become the observer and participant in that early history in what became his novel series The Stanfield Chronicles. Tory is also a lifelong sailor. Born in the UK, he moved to the United States in 1980 and now lives on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, with Helen, his wife of 48 years. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with David about novels Exploration and Retribution
March 27 - Stephanie Landsem
Stephanie Landsem writes about women in history for women who love history. She is the author of In A Far-Off Land, a story of murder, mystery and mercy set in the glamour of 1930s Hollywood and the grit of the Great Depression. She is also the author of The Living Water series — stories of women transformed by encounters with Jesus. Stephanie has traveled on four continents and dozens of countries. When she can’t travel, she reads fiction and history and dreams of her next adventure — whether it be in person or on the pages of her novels. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with Stephanie about her new historical novel Code Name Edelweiss.
April 3 - Robert Bruton
Robert Bruton was born in Detroit but grew up in Minnesota. In college he studied Greek and Roman history and spent a year at the University of Leuven in Belgium, where he studied philosophy and classical languages. Bruton also attended Seminary school. Afterward, he took a job with the CIA as an intelligence officer and developed a fascination with political intrigue. Bruton served in several overseas assignments, including one country that was once part of the Eastern Roman Empire. It was there that he gained a love for the region's hospitality and tradition of toasting. Bruton has traveled extensively throughout the countries that once constituted the Roman Empire and spent a great deal of time in Rome and Istanbul, where his three-part historical fiction series takes place. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with Robert about his books series called The Double Edged Sword Series.
April 10 - Nicola Matthews
Nicola Matthews lives on the ragged coastline of North Essex. In 1720 Kitty Canham was born nearby. It was their shared landscape and Kitty’s fascinating story that inspired Matthews to write her debut novel. Matthews comes from a family of actors and didn’t discover her love of writing until her mid-forties. Strangely, it was in going to art school to study sculpture that she discovered she could write. She also has a love of poetry, which she’s written on and off through life. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with Nicola about her debut novel, Kitty Canham: Love, Loss, and Necessary Lies.
April 17 - Lauren Belfer
Lauren Belfer was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in Buffalo, where she attended the Buffalo Seminary. At Swarthmore College, she majored in Medieval Studies. After graduating, she worked as a file clerk at an art gallery, a paralegal, an assistant photo editor at a newspaper, a fact checker at magazines, and as a researcher and associate producer on documentary films. She has an MFA from Columbia University. Belfer’s debut novel, City of Light, was a New York Times bestseller, as well as a New York Times Notable Book, a Library Journal Best Book, and a Main Selection of the Book of the Month Club. City of Light was a bestseller in Great Britain and has been translated into six languages. In this episode, we’ll be chatting with Lauren about her novel Ashton Hall.
