Beyond the Next Chapter with Whitney Clark

Latest Episodes:

Elle Cosimano, "Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead" Feb 01, 2022

Show notes

Grab your favorite soup or sandwich from Panera and settle in for a chat with Elle Cosimano – don't worry, no spoilers!

The beloved Finlay is back and smack dab in the middle of yet another wonderful mess in Elle Cosimano's February 1st release, "Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead," the follow up to her hit, "Finlay Donovan Is Killing It."

In this story Finlay and Vero must sort out who is after her ex-husband Steven, and what they can do to protect him, or if they want to. Throw in plenty of secrets, lies, disguises and love triangles and the book is a non-stop mystery full of laughter, friendship, and an adorably relatable heroine.

Elle joined the podcast to talk to Olivia about the series, crafting the friendship between Finlay and Vero, and how many more stories are already in the works (more than listeners may expect!)

She shares advice on writing, and her delight over the love her book covers have received on Instagram.

"Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead" is published by Minotaur Books.

"Finlay Donovan Is Killing It" is now available in paperback.

In A Moment With Margaret, Margaret and Olivia discuss some of the reading challenges and book club selections that are out there for the start of the year, and Margaret discusses her current reads and TBR.

To join Olivia's Book Club (currently reading "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1215960705219244/

Connect with Olivia

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Oliviafierro

IG: https://www.instagram.com/olivias.bookclub/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/oliviafierro

Connect with Margaret:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/overbookedandoverdue/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GMAZMargaret

Katherine Faulkner, "Greenwich Park" Jan 25, 2022

Show notes

Katherine Faulkner has an impressive new title to add to an already impressive (or posh) resume. The Cambridge grad is the Head of News Projects for The Sunday Times, and now a debut novelist, with the release of "Greenwich Park" from Gallery Books.

The story centers around Helen, a complicated and often socially awkward woman who- after many miscarriages is pregnant again and carrying her baby to term. Helen falls into an unusual friendship with Rachel, a fellow expectant mom who quickly and deliberately inserts herself into Helen's life for mysterious reasons. The book is a psychological thriller illustrating that we never know what lies beneath the surface of the shiny veneers of affluent suburbanites.

Katherine joins the podcast to talk about the book, the balancing of her news career and what it brings to her creative writing, lends insight into some of settings and backgrounds that prove to be important to the characters in "Greenwich Park" that Americans might not pick up on.

A Moment With Margaret: they discuss this book, looking forward to the upcoming release of "The Golden Couple" and get sidetracked from books with a chat about Wordl and other word games.

Katherine Faulkner's "Greenwich Park" is released in the US January 25, 2022.

To join Olivia's Book Club (currently reading "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1215960705219244/

Connect with Olivia

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Oliviafierro

IG: https://www.instagram.com/olivias.bookclub/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/oliviafierro

Connect with Margaret:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/overbookedandoverdue/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GMAZMargaret

Colleen Hoover, "Reminders Of Him" Jan 18, 2022

Show notes

Colleen Hoover is a publishing phenomenon, dominating bestseller lists with her catalog of novels week after week. She is a writer who breaks the rules, gliding between traditional publishing houses to self-publishing with ease, and who refuses to limit herself to genre or expectations. Her ability to create complex, emotionally relatable characters make her readers a devoted fanbase who would never miss a Hoover release and are committed to sharing their favorites with other readers online, effectively creating a volunteer publicity machine for work.

Colleen joins Olivia on the podcast this week to talk about her emotional new novel "Reminders of Him," the magical effect social media has had on her career, what she does to keep writing fun, and how her roots as a social worker influence her writing and her continued commitment to giving back, through her Bookworm Box : https://www.thebookwormbox.com/. "Reminders Of Him" is available now.

In a Moment With Margaret... Margaret checks in from California and talks about Colleen's books, authors who inspire you to check out their back catalogs, and recommends "The Man Who Died Twice" by Richard Osman. For more on Colleen Hoover visit her website: https://www.colleenhoover.com/

To join Olivia's Book Club (currently reading "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir) : https://www.facebook.com/groups/1215960705219244/

Connect with Olivia

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Oliviafierro

IG: https://www.instagram.com/olivias.bookclub/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/oliviafierro

Connect with Margaret:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/overbookedandoverdue/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GMAZMargaret

Rachel Hawkins, "Reckless Girls" Jan 11, 2022

Show notes

Rachel Hawkins' 2020 release of "The Wife Upstairs" was a huge hit. The contemporary thriller inspired by "Jane Eyre" was the first release outside of the YA genre and showed she can craft a page-turner for a variety of audiences. Rachel talks with Olivia about "Reckless Girls" (published January 2022) that tracks Lux and her boyfriend Nico as they sail off from Hawaii in search of Meroe Island, a remote location with a dark, menacing history with other twenty-somethings in search of adventure and packed with secrets.

Rachel talks about her recent success under the pseudonym Erin Sterling, choosing a new name, her love of literature, and her next thriller in the works.

In a special Moment with Margaret, Margaret Stewart recommends a 2010 book with a nautical theme, "Bloody Jack" by L.A. Meyer, and explains why she has no interest in slowing down her audio speed.

Gabriela Garcia, "Of Women and Salt" Jan 04, 2022

Show notes

For the first podcast of 2022, we are joined by an author whose 'buzzed about' 2021 debut novel is now available in paperback.

Gabriela Garcia's "Of Women and Salt" was named a Best Book of the Year (2020) by Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, and The Boston Globe. The novel is a multi-generational story of women, taking readers from nineteenth-century Cuba, to present-day Mexico, Miami, and the immigrant detention centers in Texas along the southern border. "Of Women and Salt" explores the experiences of women through the lens of class, privilege, citizenship, motherhood, addiction, poverty and trauma, and with subtlety spotlights the generational damage caused by family secrets. Garcia talks about the ways her work as an immigrant rights advocate can be felt in some of the most moving portions of the book, along with her own personal travels and family history as an American of Cuban and Mexican descent.

In A Moment With Margaret, Margaret shares her take on Anthony Doerr's "Cloud Cuckoo Land" and the challenges with listening to a book on audio that weaves through many time periods, places and people.

What are you reading this year? Let us know by email at oliviasbookclub@azfamily.com

Kristi Nelson, "Wake Up Grateful" Dec 28, 2021

Show notes

"It's not happiness that makes us grateful, it's gratefulness that makes us happy" – Kristi Nelson

Kristi Nelson brings her powerful message of the transformative practice of grateful living to the last podcast episode of the year. The author of "Wake Up Grateful" guides readers through the ways you can change your life and perspective for the better, and the ways this shift is proven to improve your life and even your health. Executive Director of A Network for Grateful Living talks with Olivia about how to begin the practice, and the ways the lens of gratitude create change in times of sadness. Her inspirational message and practice is healing and powerful, cultivated over decades after a cancer diagnosis decades ago, and can help us all as we head into a new year. Find the "Wake Up Grateful" study guide here.

After reading more than 100 books in 2021, it is hard to pick your favorites, but Margaret manages to narrow down the 3 books she's thought about most this year in A Moment With Margaret. Learn why Vincent Bugliosi's "Helter Skelter," S.A. Cosby's "Razorblade Tears," and "Greenlights" by Matthew McConaughey stood out in such a tall stack of books, and why Steven Rowley's "The Guncle" earns an honorable mention by being the book she bought, rather than borrowed.

For Olivia, of the nearly 70 books read in 2021, standouts are Ashley Audrain's "The Push," Christina Baker-Kline's "The Exiles," both of Brit Bennett's books, and Fredrik Backman's "Anxious People."

Which books you are most looking forward to reading in 2022? We'd love to hear from you, email Olivia and Margaret at oliviasbookclub@azfamily.com

Happy New Year!

Mary Kay Andrews, "The Santa Suit" Dec 21, 2021

Show notes

Brace yourself for some serious Christmas magic! New York Times bestselling author of 29 novels (and counting), Mary Kay Andrews joins the podcast to talk about "The Santa Suit" the book she calls "a delicious, sweet, peppermint scented goodie." The novella celebrates the magic of Christmas and second chances with a tale of a new beginning for Ivy Perkins, who is starting over personally and professionally with the purchase of The Four Roses farmhouse.

Mary Kay and Olivia chat about Friends & Fiction, which she co-founded and co-hosts, MKA's skills at treasure hunting, hosting, and design, her early years as a newspaper reporter, how she became tech savvy in the pandemic, and the ritual of self-doubt she still goes through each time she's set to write another book.

In A Moment With Margaret the readers discuss the fun in embracing the Christmas book genre, and Margaret recommends "One For the Books" by Jenn McKinlay, a previous guest on the podcast.

Karen Schaler, "A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale" Dec 14, 2021

Show notes

Grab a cup of cocoa and get cozy by the Christmas tree for this visit with Karen Schaler, author of new holiday romance, "A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale." Entertainment Weekly calls her a "holiday publishing darling" who is equally successful as a novelist and screenwriter, with holiday films like Christmas Camp and A Christmas Prince among her credits. Before she was known as "Christmas Karen" – she had a successful career as a television news reporter. On the podcast, she talks with Olivia about making the transition from covering tragedies to creating festive magic full time.

In a Moment With Margaret, Margaret talks about the idea of missed romantic connections in real life and fiction, and the mood of the holiday season when you're not someone who feels quite so merry and bright, and why "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is her favorite Christmas song. Holiday themed books recommended: "Time Next Year" by Sophie Cousens and David Sedaris' "Holidays On Ice."

Jeff Kinney, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot" Dec 07, 2021

Show notes

Jeff Kinney is the creative mind behind one of the most successful book series for kids of all time. He joins the podcast to talk about his latest projects: "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot," the sixteenth in the series, and the animated film, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" currently on Disney+.

He talks with Olivia about why his characters should never grow up, the perks of running a bookstore, and reacts to recent efforts to ban books across the country.

In a Moment With Margaret, the two talk about the early books that paved the way for a lifelong love of reading.

Maria Amparo Escandon, "L.A. Weather" Nov 30, 2021

Show notes

"L.A. Weather" tells the story of one very tumultuous year in the life of the Alvarado family. Successful Mexican-Americans living and working in Los Angeles, the three adult daughters maintain a commitment of meeting their parents for weekly family dinners to share their passion for food, and commitment to family.

Author Maria Amparo Escandon joins the podcast to talk about the narrative technique she uses in the novel: taking the reader through the dramatic year that changes each character profoundly, month my month, and who in her own life inspired the patriarch's unsettling preoccupation with the weather. Escandon discusses writing the book in what is not her native tongue, her love for Los Angeles, and what she calls "transcreation."

"L.A. Weather" is a New York Times Bestseller, a Reese's Book Club Pick, and named to the Best Books of 2021 by Harper's Bazaar.

Inspired by the vibrant story showcasing a Latino family that defies common fictional stereotypes, Margaret and Olivia discuss "Mexican Gothic" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Ericka Sanchez's "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter."

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Beyond the Next Chapter with Whitney Clark

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected