Nina McConigley

Nina McConigley was born in Singapore and raised in Wyoming. Her short-story collection Cowboys and East Indians was the winner of the PEN Open Book Award and a High Plains Book Award. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Orion, Ploughshares, Alaska Quarterly Review, High Country News, O, Oprah Magazine, Parents, Virginia Quarterly Review, American Short Fiction, and The Asian American Literary Review among others.

McConigley's new novel is How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

I am reading two books right now at once. One is the background for a new writing project I am just starting, Black Convicts: How Slavery Shaped Australia by Santilla Chingaipe. I haven’t written a lot of historical fiction, but this is connected to family ancestry, and so I am doing a deep dive to understand the slave trade and convicts in Australia. Especially women convicts. It makes me realize how narrow my view of history and place is. And how we are so taught the history of where we are from, and not the rest of the world.

I also just reread Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid. I am so curious about how characters get past the colonial past of their homeland with life in the United States. Can that ever happen? I also love first-person point- of-view books narrated by young women.

Visit Nina McConigley's website.

The Page 69 Test: How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder.

--Marshal Zeringue

Andromeda Romano-Lax

Born in Chicago and now a resident of Vancouver Island, Canada, Andromeda Romano-Lax worked as a freelance journalist and travel writer before turning to fiction. Her first novel, The Spanish Bow, was translated into eleven languages and chosen as a New York Times Editors’ Choice, BookSense pick, and one of Library Journal’s Best Books of the Year. Her next four novels, The Detour, Behave (an Amazon Book of the Month), Plum Rains (winner of the Sunburst Award), and Annie and the Wolves (a Booklist Top 10 Historical Fiction Book of the Year) reflect her diverse interest in the arts, history, science, and technology, as well as her love of travel and her time spent living abroad. Starting with The Deepest Lake (a Barnes & Noble Monthly Pick and Amazon Book of the Month) and continuing with her new novel, What Boys Learn, Romano-Lax has swerved into the world of suspense fiction, although she continues to write historical and speculative fiction as well.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

On my nightstand are two novels that defy easy genre categorization, as many of my favorites do. New Zealander Catherine Chidgey’s The Book of Guilt is a slow burn alternate history that takes us into a world where no one won World War II and where sickly orphans are being kept in group homes and isolated from the public for reasons we don’t understand at first. I love Chidgey’s ethically nuanced fiction, empathetic characterization, and unique angles on historical events. She pulls me back toward historical fiction, a genre I love most when authors take risks, avoid sentimentality, and play with what we think we know about the world.

Gilly Macmillan’s The Burning Library. Inspired by an ancient manuscript that intrigued the author, this smart new thriller melds cryptography, conspiracies, dark academia, and a race against time in a novel that pits one fictional women’s sect against another. A departure for Macmillan, whose suspense novels usually follow clever but more expected plotlines, this unexpected page-turner somehow manages to be both stark—throats are slit with abandon—and at the same time, oddly cozy. Maybe it’s the UK setting? I’m finding it just escapist enough for light holiday reading.

Visit Andromeda Romano-Lax's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Spanish Bow.

The Page 69 Test: The Detour.

Writers Read: Andromeda Romano-Lax (February 2012).

The Page 69 Test: What Boys Learn.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kelli Stanley

A critically-acclaimed, bestselling author of crime fiction, Kelli Stanley is the author of the award-winning Miranda Corbie historical noir series (City of Dragons, City of Secrets, City of Ghosts, City of Sharks), featuring "one of crime's most arresting heroines" (Library Journal), private investigator Miranda Corbie, and set in 1940 San Francisco.

Stanley also writes an award-winning, highly-praised series set in Roman Britain (Nox Dormienda; The Curse-Maker).

Her newest novel, The Reckoning, is a first-in-series mystery-thriller set in Northern California's "Emerald Triangle" in 1985.

Recently I asked Stanley about what she was reading. Her reply:

Well, because I’m on a deadline to finish the second Renata novel, I can’t read fiction. That’s a huge frustration for me, because I’d like to start plunging into Cara Black’s Huguette and James L’Etoile’s Illusion of Truth and Rhys Bowen’s Silent as the Grave, to name a few.

I make it a practice to avoid reading current fiction while I’m actively writing (as opposed to researching) a book, because I’m afraid that I’ll unconsciously start imitating it. So….

Non-fiction is my getaway, and I’m currently reading a delightful book by Jane Austen scholar Devoney Looser. Devoney is a critic and professor (her course on Austen on “Great Courses” truly is a great course) and the book is a gem.

The title is Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane, and it’s one of several I’m devouring to commemorate the 250th birthday of one of my favorite writers. I’ve been an Austen devotee since I was about fourteen—way before Colin Firth took a bath with his clothes on—and her genius never fails to awe and inspire me. Devoney’s book examines just how un-“cozy” Jane Austen was, as a person and as a writer, and I find it a fascinating and provocative read. I recommend it!

Visit Kelli Stanley's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Kelli Stanley & Bertie.

The Page 69 Test: City of Dragons.

The Page 69 Test: City of Secrets.

The Page 69 Test: City of Ghosts.

My Book, The Movie: City of Ghosts.

The Page 69 Test: City of Sharks.

My Book, The Movie: City of Sharks.

Writers Read: Kelli Stanley (March 2018).

The Page 69 Test: The Reckoning.

--Marshal Zeringue

Van Jensen

Van Jensen is an acclaimed novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer. Godfall, his debut novel, is in development as a TV series with Academy Award winner Ron Howard attached to direct. Jensen began his career as a newspaper crime reporter, then broke into comic books and graphic novels as the writer of ARCA (IDW), Two Dead (Gallery 13), and Tear Us Apart (Dark Horse). Jensen has written world-renowned characters, including Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Godzilla, and James Bond. He has served as a Comic Book Ambassador for the U.S. State Department, teaching refugee children to tell their stories through comics. He lives in Atlanta.

Recently I asked the author about what he was reading. Jensen's reply:

The book I've read that stuck with me lately is The Dog of the South by Charles Portis.

A jilted husband follows his wife and her new paramour to Mexico, seeking revenge, or at least to reclaim his Ford Torino. The book is about exactly that, but not really that at all. It's a shaggy travelogue, a picaresque character study, an anthology of broken and insane oddballs, an ode to adventure, or perhaps a warning of the dangers of adventure. Mostly, it's funny as hell and endlessly surprising. This is Kerouac with a healthy dash of Pynchon.

Visit Van Jensen's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Gabriella Saab

Gabriella Saab is the author of The Last Checkmate and Daughters of Victory. She graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor of business administration in marketing and lives in her hometown of Mobile, Alabama, where she works as a barre instructor. She is of Lebanese heritage and is one of the co-hosts of @hfchitchat on Twitter, a recurring monthly chat and community celebrating the love of reading and writing historical fiction.

Saab's new novel is The Star Society.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

I recently finished Book of Forbidden Words by Louise Fein, a fascinating novel about an encrypted manuscript which takes readers from 1500s England and France to McCarthy’s America in the 1950s. It was sobering and riveting with excellent research, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Historical fiction is always my favorite, and I haven’t read much set in the 1500s, so that storyline was particularly interesting to me.

I also listen to a lot of audiobooks. I just finished a fun series on Audible called Mistletoe Murders, which is an Audible exclusive by Ken Cuperus following a Christmas store owner who turns into her small town’s best mystery-solver every time a murder occurs. As her past unfolds, we learn more about her past, and she’s not simply a Christmas store owner. The audiobooks are full-cast, and it’s been so fun to follow these characters through the various episodes. Growing up, Nancy Drew was one of my favorite series, and this feels like a grown-up, cozy mystery Nancy Drew with a dash of murder.

Next, I’ll be starting My Fair Frauds by Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne, narrated by Megan Trout. This is a Gilded Age caper where a con woman and a swindler team up for a takedown. I love this author duo and can’t wait to read their latest work! Gilded Age New York is one of my favorite settings, so I’m excited to immerse myself in the opulence, drama, and fun that will certainly follow our heroines.

Visit Gabriella Saab's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Star Society.

Q&A with Gabriella Saab.

My Book, The Movie: The Star Society.

--Marshal Zeringue

Katie Bernet

Katie Bernet is the author of Beth Is Dead, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. She’s an award-winning creative director and a long-standing member of the DFW Writer’s Workshop. As the oldest of three sisters, she’s a diehard fan of Little Women.

Recently I asked Bernet about what she was reading. Her reply:

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes a “high concept” novel, so I’ve been reading books that have well-defined, grabby premises. In the young adult space, I just finished reading Kill Creatures by Rory Power which is a murder mystery written from the perspective of the killer—chilling, clever, and horribly believable. I just started reading Let’s Split Up by Bill Wood which was pitched as Scream meets Scooby Doo and totally delivers on both the horror and the quirky group dynamics.

In the adult space, I just finished reading Sky Daddy by Kate Folk about a woman who is attracted to planes, and I was shocked by how much I empathized with the main character. I just started reading Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake, a satire about a sorority that practices cannibalism. Highly recommend all four of these.

Visit Katie Bernet's website.

The Page 69 Test: Beth Is Dead.

My Book, The Movie: Beth Is Dead.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jacquelyn Stolos

Jacquelyn Stolos grew up in Derry, New Hampshire. She loves tromping through the forest and reading good books.

Asterwood is her first novel for children.

Stolos holds an MFA in fiction from NYU, where she was a Writers in the Public School Fellow. Her short fiction has appeared in Joyland and No Tokens. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.

Recently I asked Stolos about what she was reading. Her reply:

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

No one needs me to say that LeGuin is a master of fantasy that deftly tackles social and existential questions. I returned to this classic to remind myself of everything that's possible in children's literature. The archipelago of Earthsea is the most vivid place I've ever been, the action gripping to the point of it being unfair. Prickly, arrogant Ged is a singular protagonist. The engineering of this world's magic, with its Taoist principles, is sublime. LeGuin's small, subtle moves--like Vetch offering Ged trust right after his darkest failure of character--radiate out into the collective soul. If I could write with a fraction of LeGuin's guts, for only a moment-- the story starts off running at word one and blazes forward without self-consciousness or apology--well, my gosh, I don't know. I might fall off my desk chair and die.

Visit Jacquelyn Stolos's website.

--Marshal Zeringue