In Sara Goodman Confino’s humorous historical novel, GOOD GRIEF, it’s 1963, and Barbara Feldman, a widow of two years, finds her mother-in-law, Ruth, on her doorstep, and determined to ease Barbara’s pain. Instead, her machinations exacerbate Barbara’s healing. At times, Ruth’s antics are as covert as they are funny, and as exasperating as they are touching.

Could you live with your mother-in-law, especially under such sad circumstances?

Sara explains where and how a similar circumstance became the basis for GOOD GRIEF's plot, and why it made it an even greater joy to write it.

She also gives us a hint of her next historical novel, which will resonate greatly with those who identify as "Spring-Nuts" — a.k.a., uber-fans of the greatly beloved living musical legend, Bruce Springsteen. Sara's tale of her own VERY close encounter with The Boss will give you a chuckle and make you wish you were there, too.

Good Grief by Sara Goodman Confino is in bookstores on August 26, 2025.

(c) 2025 Josie Brown

In Juliette Fay’s historical novel, THE HARVEY GIRLS, readers are transported to 1920s America, where trains were the common mode of transportation through the parts of the country filled with tall majestic mountains and wild open ranges. This big-hearted tale of two very different women training for a very unique job—Harvey Restaurants—must learn to trust each other as one tries to save her family and the other to save herself.

THE HARVEY GIRLS IS IN AMAZON AND OTHER BOOKSTORES NOW.

(c) 2025 Josie Brown. All rights reserved.

This is a copyrighted episode of Author Provocateur. Any use by AI is expressly prohibited.

In Meredith Schorr’s latest novel, ROOMMATING, sizzling chemistry and tender friendship develop between two accidental roommates in this hilarious rom-com from the author of As Seen on TV.

Sabrina is too busy with grad school and her job as a library page to think about dating. Until her elderly roommate, Marcia, invites her estranged grandson, Adam, to move into their two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan temporarily to “find himself.” Sabrina doesn’t mind sharing the small space with Adam if it helps Marcia repair her relationship with her grandson. But she’s not expecting to fall for him herself. Adam is not only gorgeous, he’s kind, funny, shares her love of reading, and clearly adores Marcia. After one too many accidental midnight rendezvous in the bathroom (him shirtless), the tension between them is hotter than ever. But they’re not the only ones feeling the heat. After Marcia has a health scare, her doctors advise that one of her younger roommates must go.

In a comical and sexy battle to prove who deserves to stay, the two pull out all the stops. All's fair in love and real estate, But in the end, victory is not so sweet when winning the apartment could mean losing each other.

Meredith and I discuss her plotting process and how she makes her dialogue so downright hilarious: a hallmark of her books, for sure. She also has great insights that unpublished authors should take to heart. This episode is truly one you can't miss.

(c) 2025 Josie Brown. All rights reserved.

This is a copyrighted episode of Author Provocateur. Any use by AI is expressly prohibited.

In prolific suspense novelist and USA-Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author Debra Webb's latest novel, THE SECRETS WE BURY, is the first in a new romantic suspense series whose protagonist, Dr. Rowan Dupont—formally Nashville, Tennessee Police Department’s forensic psychologist—also happens to be an undertaker’s daughter.

Rowan, who comes from the small town of Winchester, Tennessee, is haunted by the mysterious drowning death of her twin sister. Between her mother’s subsequent suicide and the recent murder of her father, returning to Winchester to run the funeral home feels fitting—even if it leaves her vulnerable to an obsessive serial killer

Debra and I not only discussed her plotting and how her past affects her writing, she also has sage advice to authors just starting out: "If what you write is what readers want to read, don't deviate from what works best for them—and for you."

In USA Today best-selling author Kaira Rouda's latest domestic suspense novel, SOMEBODY'S HOME, the sale of house isn't a fresh start, but the beginning of a nightmare.


Julie Jones has left her suffocating marriage. Although it’s on the wrong side of the tracks in Oceanside, California, she's hoping that her new house is the first step toward a new life with her teenage daughter, Jess.

However, the previous owners have left something—or rather someone—behind…

Tom Dean has a seething hatred for the father who considers him a lost cause. He’s now extended his malice to the woman who has purchased the only home he’s ever known. She thinks he’ll be gone in three days, but Tom has the perfect plan for this single mother and her daughter.

Before the weekend is over, somebody is going to get exactly what they deserve.

Kaira and I discuss where she gets her novel premises, her process for bringing her everyday characters to life, how young adults become disenfranchised from the rest of the world and cajoled into domestic terrorism, and why it’s important to lift the curtain on the dark side of our everyday lives.

According to internationally bestselling author David Baldacci, when you’ve written as many books as he has—ten series, or a total of thirty books, and counting; and another twelve stand-alone novels—there is one way to keep his writing razor-sharp: “Start from Square One: create a new character, a new series—a new world.”

With his latest novel, LONG ROAD TO MERCY, Baldacci has done just that. His new protagonist, female FBI agent Atlee Pine, must cover a desolate Far West outpost on her own. And although its size is intimidating—it includes Grand Canyon National Park—Atlee is strongly motivated to succeed. She sees it as a way to avenge the tragic death of her twin sister, Mercy, who was abducted by a serial killer when the girls were only six years old.

David and I talked about his process in creating new, complex characters and weaving real-time geopolitical incidents into a heart-pounding plot.

Click here to read the accompanying feature interview with David in TheBigThrill.org

(c) 2018, 2025 Josie Brown. All Rights Reserved

In best-selling author Lisa Barr’s latest thriller, WOMAN ON FIRE, rising young journalist, Jules Roth, is given an unusual—and very secret—assignment: locate a painting stolen by the Nazis more than 75 years earlier: It is the final request of World-renowned shoe designer Ellis Baum, who has a special relationship with the painting and knows his time on Earth in short.

But a cunning art gallery owner is also searching for the painting. Heir to her art collector family’s millions, Margaux de Laurent is renowned for getting everything she wants—and the only thing standing in her way is Jules. Helping Jules is Adam Baum, Ellis’s grandson. A recovering addict and brilliant artist in his own right, Adam was once in Margaux’s clutches. He knows how ruthless she is, and he’ll do anything to help Jules locate the painting before Margaux gets to it first.

A thrilling tale of secrets, love, and sacrifice that illuminates the destructive cruelty of war and greed and the triumphant power of beauty and love, Woman on Fire tells the story of an exquisite work of art that burns bright, moving through hands, hearts, and history.

Lisa and Josie discuss how much of this tale is also a part of her history: as an art lover, a novelist, and the grandchild of a Holocaust survivor.

WOMAN ON FIRE IS IN BOOKSTORES NOW.

(c) 2022 JOSIE BROWN. All Rights Reserved.

In Jason Pinter's second novel in the Rachel Marin thriller series, A STRANGER AT THE DOOR, Pinter has given Rachel a unique skill set: she has an uncanny ability to see clues that crime scene investigators may miss, making her a much-needed asset by her town’s understaffed homicide detectives, including her love interest, John Serrano.

She’s also a lethal killer.

This gives her leeway to do things that may be considered skirting the law.

It also makes her one kick-ass helicopter mom.

When danger lands on Rachel’s doorstep with the threat of harming her young family, she has a vested interest in solving the heinous murder of a local high school teacher, Matthew Linklater—he was brutally murdered before his home was set afire.

Solving the beloved teacher’s death becomes imperative, especially when it turns out that some of her son Eric’s classmates may be involved.

Jason and I discuss how he came up with the plot, and how being a parent helped him create the empathy needed to let loose the Tiger Mom in his intrepid protagonist.

A STRANGER AT THE DOOR is in Amazon. You can also purchase it at your local bookstore.

For more about Josie, go to https://www.josiebrown.com