Everybody's got a Story

Andrew Tonkovich , longtime editor of the West Coast literary arts journal the Santa Monica Review and founding editor of the online Orange County quarterly Citric Acid , joins Amy Dechary and me to preview the...

Poet Ellen Girardeau Kempler and I get into a very robust discussion about the differences between lyrics and poetry, and related topics, during this episode. Our conversation's point of departure is the controversy...

Former journalist & communications strategist, now book reviewer and lecturer, Randy Kraft is the author of three novels and two story collections in print, ebooks and audio. Randy holds an MAW [Masters in Writing] MBA...

Darrell Denny is the author of "Of Light & Lies", a heart thumping tale set on an isolated island with nowhere to hide. Helen and Juanita must decide—who can they trust? And what happens when the past won’t stay buried...

Scott T. Barnes has published oral histories, a fourth grade reader, and works of young adult fiction, including the novel "Memories of Lucinda Eco", which BookLife called “a spellbinding blend of magic and mystery.”...

Local author and artist Nancy Klann-Moren joins us to discuss her writing journey, advice for writers, and her three publications - "The Clock of Life" (a novel), "Like the Flies on the Patio" (a collection of...

Newly-appointed Education Program Director (and long-time Festival Orchestra violinist) Dr. Lindsey Strand-Polyak shares all the innovative details of " Coloring with Corell i", a collaboration between the Baroque Music...

Nuka Hart, CEO of Free Wheelchair Mission , joins us in this episode to discuss the importance of mobility and the central role storytelling plays in her organization's mission to serve the estimated 80 million people...

As a child, today's guest Becky Ryan enrolled in art classes, which sparked an affinity for painting and established for her the value of practice. After painting casually for many years, Becky adopted a more...

George Gilliam, Executive Director of Creative Identity , a non-profit dedicated to strengthening the voice of the intellectual disability community, joins the show to share the story of how this incredible organization...

Emily Hine is a social entrepreneur with a national reputation for forging successful partnerships that result in significant social change. Over the course of her career in fundraising, philanthropy, marketing, public...

Erick Garske entered early retirement from a career as a software engineer. Now he spends his days focused on composing poems and prose instead of debugging source code. In this episode, Erick and I continue a really...

Patricia Pepper Truman has always had a passion for writing, including poetry! Today she shares her history with the founders of Designing Women, her plunge into poetry, and even her experience running her first...