In the spotlight is Mark Farrington, who recently retired after nearly 40 years of teaching writing, the past 25 of them teaching writing programs at Johns Hopkins University. Consider his accolades:His short fiction has won the Editor’s Choice Award in the Raymond Carver Fiction Contest He was awarded an Individual Artists Grant from the Virginia Commission on the Arts Four times he was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Award in the Johns Hopkins MA in Writing Program He won the Outstanding Service Award from the Northern Virginia Writing Project And the Outstanding Alumni Award from the English department at George Mason University Farrington has just published his first novel, titled Loss of Life. The novel tells the story of 41-year-old Matthew Winton who awakens in a Virginia hospital after a car accident and has no memory of his life after the age of thirteen. Learn more about Mark Farrington and his writing instruction here: https://www.markfarrington.netNovelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18noWrite to Mike Consol at [email protected] 

In the spotlight is Kate McKean, literary agent at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency in Brooklyn, New York. She earned her master’s degree in fiction writing at the University of Southern Mississippi, and her work has appeared in Poets & Writers, Electric Literature, and Catapult. She recently published her first book. The title is Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life. She also writes the Agents & Books newsletter at agentsandbooks.com.   Learn more about Kate McKean here: https://www.katemckean.com/  McKean’s book, Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life, can be purchased here: https://snip.ly/nccjn7  Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no     Write to Mike Consol at [email protected] 

In the spotlight is Nathaniel Popkin, author of the new novel Partly Strong, Partly Broken. Set in suburban New Jersey during the fall of 2023 and told through the eyes of a passionate, inclusivity-minded Rabbi, the novel unfolds in the shadow of Hamas’ gruesome attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel's subsequent devastation of Gaza. Partly Strong, Partly Broken is Popkin’s fourth novel and his eighth book. He is also a writer and producer of history documentary films, the co-founder of the website and public history and journalism project Hidden City. His writing has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. Learn more about Nathaniel Popkin here: https://nathanielpopkin.net/ Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no   Write to Mike Consol at [email protected]

In the spotlight is Jayne Ann Krentz, who has written more than 100 novels under three different pen names. Jayne Ann Krentz writes contemporary romantic/suspense. She uses the pseudonym Amanda Quick for her novels of historical romantic/suspense. And Jayne Castle (her birth name) is reserved these days for her stories of futuristic/paranormal suspense/romance. And she’s out with a new novel titled “Enter the Nightmare,” written as Jayne Castle.  She is also full of writing advice for published and aspiring novelists.  Learn more about Jayne Ann Krentz here: https://jayneannkrentz.com  Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no   Write to Mike Consol at [email protected] 

In the spotlight is famed British novelist Graham Greene, as remembered by novelist Thomas Waugh, who also writes historical novels under the name Richard Foreman, who has worked as a literary consultant and publicist to a number of bestselling authors, including William Dalrymple, Simon Sebag Montefiore and Kate Williams. In 2012 he co-founded Endeavour Press, a U.K.-based independent digital publishers. He is also a bestselling historical novelist and the director of the London History Festival. He lives in London. Learn more about Graham Greene here: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Graham-Greene Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no Write to Mike Consol at [email protected]

In the spotlight is Diane Winston, author of the recent report headlined “From bodice rippers to romantasy, romance novels are dominating the book market — and rewriting women’s sexual power.” She is also a professor at the USCAnnenberg School of Communication and Journalism.  Winston has authored and edited numerous books on the connection between religion, media, American history and politics. She has written for publications such as the Raleigh News and Observer, Dallas Times Herald and the Baltimore Sun, during which time she was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize three times. Her contributions have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Alta, and others.   You can read Diane Winston’s “boddice rippers” article about romance novels — the basis for this episode of the podcast — here: https://theconversation.com/from-bodice-rippers-to-romantasy-romance-novels-are-dominating-the-book-market-and-rewriting-womens-sexual-power-273765  Learn more about Diane Winston here: https://annenberg.usc.edu/faculty/diane-winston  Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no   Write to Mike Consol at [email protected] 

In the spotlight is Canadian novelist Jane Bow, who grew up in Canada, the United States, Spain, England and Czechia. Three of her four novels have been award finalists in Canada, the United States and Britain. Bow has also written for literary journals, Chatelaine Magazine and CBC radio, and has presented herwork internationally. Bow, who lives in Victoria, Canada, is out with a new novel titled The Angels’ Share. Learn more about Jane Bow here: https://janebow.com/ Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no Write to Mike Consol at [email protected]

In the spotlight is Carla Kaplan and her biography of Jessica “Decca” Mitford, titled Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford. Kaplan is an award-winning professor and writer who holds the Stanton and Elisabeth Davis Distinguished Professorship in American Literature at Northeastern University. She has also taught at the University of Southern California and at Yale. Kaplan is the author of The Erotics of Talk and Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters.   A recipient of a Guggenheim and many other fellowships, Kaplan has been a fellow in residence at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute, among other research centers.  Learn more about Carla Kaplan here: https://carlakaplan.com/  Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no           Write to Mike Consol at [email protected] 

In the spotlight is repeat guest Tyson Cornell, the founder and publisher of Rare Bird Books, an independent press committed to bold, boundary-pushing storytelling. He has more than two decades of experience in publishing, bookselling and author advocacy, and has championed hundreds of acclaimed titles across fiction, nonfiction and music.  Learn more about Rare Bird Books here: https://rarebirdlit.com/about-rare-bird  Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no         Write to Mike Consol at [email protected] 

In the spotlight is Melissa Fraterrigo, the author of the memoir-in-essays titled “The Perils of Girlhood.” She has also written the novel “Glory Days,” as well as the short story collection “The Longest Pregnancy.” Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies from Shenandoah and The Massachusetts Review to  storySouth and Notre Dame Review. She has been a finalist for awards from Glimmer Train on multiple occasions, twice nominated for Pushcart Awards, and was the winner of the Sam Adams/Zoetrope: All Story Short Fiction Contest.  She teaches creative writing at Purdue University and in the MFA program in creative writing at Butler University in Indianapolis and also offers instruction on the art and craft of writing at the Lafayette Writers’ Studio in Lafayette, Indiana. Learn more about Melissa Fraterrigo here: https://www.melissafraterrigo.com/  Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no       Write to Mike Consol at [email protected]