Beyond the Next Chapter with Whitney Clark

For the first time on Beyond the Next Chapter, our host Whitney Clark is chatting with a children's book author—and she's local! Lindsay Gonzales lives in the Valley and is the author of a series of books about a young girl named E.D. Camps. The main character is based off of Lindsay's daughter, Elena. Lindsay loves camping and when she and her husband started taking their young daughters, she couldn't find any books about camping. So she wrote one! Lindsay talks to Whitney about how she became a published author, her favorite books, why she loves camping with her family, and her favorite camping spots in Arizona!

Spring is here and summer is just around the corner! If you're looking for a good beach read, Allison Winn Scotch's new book "Take Two, Birdie Maxwell" may be the one! Our host Whitney Clark got to talk to Allison about how Julia Roberts inspired the main character, Birdie. Allison is a fan of 90's romcoms and wanted to create the same types of love stories in her books. She's also a big fan of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce and weighs in on why she thinks so many are rooting for (and sometimes against) the couple. Allison regularly gives shout outs to other female authors and shares why that is so important in the publishing world.

For the first time, the podcast is featuring an Arizona author! Christina Estes is out with her debut novel "Off the Air." It's a murder mystery set in Phoenix (and it features more than 15 local businesses and neighborhoods). It stars Jolene Garcia, a competitive local TV reporter who wants tell important stories in her community. The book was inspired by Estes' own career. She has spent more than 20 years reporting in Phoenix and currently works for NPR. Estes tells Whitney she hopes people are entertained, they have a better understanding of how local news works, and a better appreciation for Phoenix. "Off the Air" also won the Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery Set in the Southwest.

What if every time you met a man, you would know how long you would spend with him? That's the premise of Rebecca Serle's new book "Expiration Dates." Our host Whitney Clark got a chance to talk to Serle about her latest project and the story of Daphne Bell. In this podcast episode, Whitney and Rebecca dive into faith versus free will, the significance of female relationships and how they change throughout your 30's, and Rebecca's secrets to a successful book club! Serle is known for incorporating magical realism into her stories and "Expiration Dates" is no different. She's a New York Times best selling author who also wrote "One Italian Summer" and "In Five Years."

Whitney Clark takes us on a trip down memory lane! Her guest this week is Laura Sharp, the owner of a Gilbert-based pop-up bookstore. Literally, A Bookshop is a children's bookstore that also hosts events for grown-ups! Think the Scholastic Book Fair, but instead of your school gymnasium, events for adults are hosted at wine bars and breweries across the Valley. You can buy a book while drinking a beer or a glass of wine, while also connecting with your fellow readers. Laura shares why she started the events for adults, what it's like owning an independent bookstore, and the magic of introducing kids to books.

In this episode of "Beyond the Next Chapter," our host Whitney Clark introduces us to silent book clubs. What is a silent book club? Think of it as a flash mob, but for readers! You show up with a book and meet other readers. It's less pressure than a traditional book club and is growing in popularity. Whitney talks to the organizers of the Phoenix and East Valley Silent Book Club chapters who say they now have two meetings a month.

In the second episode of "Beyond the Next Chapter," our host Whitney Clark talks to the #1 New York Times Bestselling author Kristin Hannah. If you don't immediately recognize her name, you likely have seen her books! Hannah has written more than 20 novels including "The Nightingale," "The Four Winds," and "The Great Alone." Hollywood has also taken note. Her book "Firefly Lane" was the #1 series on Netflix around the world the week it came out and Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group has already preemptively acquired the rights to "The Women." Hannah's newest book, "The Women," is the fictionalized story of the brave nurses who served during the Vietnam War. Hannah grew up during that time period and it cast a big shadow over her life. Fans of Hannah's work will see familiar themes in "The Women," including the power of female friendships. "I really write about women finding their voices. Women finding their power," Hannah said on the podcast. "And in the best of circumstances finding their power, and then pausing to turn and help other women who are still struggling on that journey." "The Women" is out now wherever you buy your books.

In the first episode of "Beyond the Next Chapter," we'll introduce you to our host, Whitney Clark, and dive into her reading origin story. Some of her earliest memories include her dad reading to her and taking her to the library or the bookstore. Whitney is joined by her dad and Samantha Mears with the Maricopa County Library District, who is raising a young reader herself! Samantha shares how you can encourage your kids to read through the "1,000 Books Before Kindergarten" program.

Think of this as a book recommendation podcast for all walks of readers, whether you’re an avid reader or you want to fall in love with books! It’s a place to come to find your next great read from romance, to thrillers, to historical fiction, non-fiction and so much more. As the title implies, in each episode host Whitney Clark will take you beyond the next chapter. We’ll talk to our favorite authors, local authors and dive into important topics: how can we improve literacy rates in our community? What’s a silent book club? Why are books banned? Audiobooks vs. books? How can I find more time to read? How can I encourage my kids to read? Starting in mid-January, episodes will be released every other Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts.

A group of college friends lose one member of the group to suicide just before graduation in 1995. The loss resonates and shapes their relationships for decades in this funny and moving novel by Steven Rowley. Steven returns to the podcast to talk about his fantastic 2023 release, a story that is personal to the author in many ways, “there’s so much story in these middle years,” he says of the characters who align with his own path. He talks with Olivia about the book’s success, the screen adaptations for his work that are awaiting the end of the writers’ strike, and his own marriage. The book is available in hardcover from GP Putnam & Sons, and the author narrates the audiobook. For more visit his website This is the last episode of the Olivia’s Book Club podcast. Keep up with the group on Facebook, and stay connected with Olivia on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube

Riley Sager is back and this creepy, twisty thriller takes readers on a tense ride to reveal what really happened the night of the Hope family murders, and why then 17-year-old Lenora was THE ONLY ONE LEFT. Sager returns to the podcast for the third time to talk about his latest work, his book tour, and the plans for upcoming adaptation of THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE for Netflix. For more on the author visit his website. Riley Sager will be at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale on June 19, information is here.

Ashley Audrain, the author of the 2021 powerhouse women’s fiction debut, THE PUSH, returns to the podcast to talk with Olivia about her new novel, THE WHISPERS. THE WHISPERS takes us to an affluent street where we experience life, frustration, marriage concerns, parenting failures, heartbreaks, tragedies, embarrassment, suspicions, all through the eyes (and whispers) of four women: Whitney, Blair, Rebecca and Mara. Ashley says her experience during the restrictions of the pandemic helped to shape the novel. “Your world became so small, your world was only as big as what you could see outside your front window, which was your neighbor and your neighboring houses. I think we all became a little more intimate and closer with the people we lived in proximity with, that was very much on my mind when I was writing the characters of this book and their settings on the street” she says. THE WHISPERS is out now from Pamela Dorman/Viking and is also available in audio. For more on the author visit her website. Click here to revisit Olivia and Ashley’s conversation about THE PUSH.

Happiness Project Founder and New York Times bestselling author Gretchen Rubin returns to the podcast to talk with Olivia about her new book, LIFE IN FIVE SENSES, another useful tool for the toolkit of anyone who shares her insatiable desire to understand human nature and find ways to live a happier life. For this book Gretchen embarks on an experiment to see how a focus on her senses might change her perspective and discovered she found greater calm, joy, and connection to the people and places surrounding her. Gretchen shares surprising discoveries from daily visits the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and which life experience she’d like a do-over for, after practicing these methods to be more in her body and in the moment. LIFE IN FIVE SENSES is available in hardcover from Crown Publishing and is also available in audio format, read by the author. Want to better tap into your five senses? Check out the Happier With Gretchen Rubin podcast.

“A plane crashes into the ocean, sinks with people trapped inside,” T.J. Newman says in describing the premise of this summer’s new novel, DROWNING. The writer returns to the podcast to talk with Olivia about battling the pressures of following up her debut bestseller, and her gratitude for the opportunity to live her dream as a full-time writer. A former bookseller and flight attendant, Newman’s commercial airline centered thrillers sparked bidding wars in publishing and in Hollywood. This time around, deadline pressures were as intense as the burden of expectation, but Newman said she loved writing this intensely emotional book: “At its core, this story would not work if it were not a story of grief and loss and hope and survival and a family coming together” she says. DROWNING is published by Avid Reader Press, available for pre-order before its May 30, 2023 release. Newman will be signing books at Changing Hands Bookstore, where she used to work, on Monday May 29, 2023. She’ll be at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore the following night. For more on TJ Newman, and to follow the latest developments as both her books head to the big screen, visit her website.

Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the besties and writing duo who make readers’ smiles and hearts grow with every book published under the pen name Christina Lauren, return to the podcast to talk with Olivia about this summer’s release. THE TRUE LOVE EXPERIMENT is a stand alone novel focused on “Fizzy” aka Felicity Chen, who readers first met in their instant bestseller THE SOULMATE EQUATION. “No two people complete each other, it is who is perfect for our heroine or our hero,” says Christina, and in this book it’s the divorced dad/documentary producer Conner who is clearly meant for Fizzy. The way the relationship unfolds slowly, Lauren explains, is what makes it good. “What more fun can you imagine than taking that person who thinks she knows everything about love and showing her that maybe that’s not actually true… they really became friends,” she says. THE TRUE LOVE EXPERIMENT is out May 16, 2023 from Gallery Books. For more on the writers and their book tour, visit https://christinalaurenbooks.com/

A Mardi Gras bachelorette party leads to a chance encounter for bridesmaid Serena Khan that leads her considering blowing up the life she’s carefully built just weeks before her thirtieth birthday. As if that’s not challenging enough, she’ll need to get it back together (or at least look together) before she’s featured in a Life at 30 profile she’s been anticipating since graduation, Neely Tubati Alexander joins the podcast to talk about her debut novel, LOVE BUZZ. She chats with Olivia about her favorite parts of the writing process, her approach to inclusion and representation in her work, and what it all has to do with Nirvana. LOVE BUZZ is out in paperback and audio on May 2, 2023 from Harper Perennial. For more on the author, who has a contract for two more novels currently in the works, visit www.neelytubatialexander.com Neely will celebrate her book’s launch locally at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix on Friday May 12.

“He’s driving across America, running from the mob, the feds, the cops, a whole bunch of people just to try to find a place to be and exist,” says Don Winslow of where readers find the character of Danny Ryan in his new book, CITY OF DREAMS. Don returns to the podcast to talk with Olivia about the second novel in the crime trilogy that began with CITY ON FIRE. Winslow shares his advice for aspiring writers, and recollections of his stranger than fiction life prior to becoming a bestselling writer of crime fiction. CITY OF DREAMS is available in hardcover from William Morrow and in audio from HarperAudio. For more on his work, visit https://www.donwinslow.com/

Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist Rebecca Makkai joins the podcast to discuss her novel, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU. The book follows film professor and podcaster Bodie Kane’s return to her alma mater to teach a two-week course. The environment and her students’ interest in producing a true crime podcast about the murder of her former roommate resurrect strong feelings, questions and concerns for Bodie. Rebecca tells Olivia about making changes to the character of Bodie, her interest in the obsession with true crime, the emotional moments that arise on the book tour when readers discuss her highly acclaimed book, THE GREAT BELIEVERS, and her SubMakk substack. She also shares her tribute to her late father, the 84 Books Project. I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU is available in hardcover from Viking and audio from Penguin Audio. For more on the author visit https://rebeccamakkai.com/

Larry Loftis writers non-fiction thrillers. Not a genre Olivia was familiar with before reading his 2023 book THE WATCHMAKER’S DAUGHTER, Larry joined the podcast to talk about his approach to telling true stories that read like fiction. “I like thrillers, that’s what’s fun for me to read, turning the page, getting your heart rate going, so I just merged the two genres.” Larry spends at least a year on research before beginning to write his books- and telling Corrie Ten Boom’s story was no different. Once he completes his extensive research, he exercises his creativity in the formatting and pacing of the story. He takes no creative license with the details: “I can’t make anything up. What I can do is decide when chapters end, that’s up to me. When there's a dead body, a gun, a briefcase stolen… then, I can end the chapter there. The reader says, ‘wait, wait, what happened? That's what a thriller is.” Larry Loftis is the author of: THE PRINCESS SPY, CODE NAME: LISE, INTO THE LION’S MOUTH, and 2023’s THE WATCHMAKER’S DAUGHTER, published by William Morrow and is also available as an audiobook from Harper Audio.

Vanessa Blair is most definitely not living her dream life. She’s working as a telemarketer for a judgmental tyrant who wants her out because of her RBF. Her facial expression aside, she’s done everything expected of the employees and then some (hello, office Olympics?) For fans of movies like Office Space and the classic 9-5, Anastasia Ryan’s debut novel YOU SHOULD SMILE MORE is laugh out loud funny and disturbingly relatable to most anyone who has worked in a company claiming to embrace a meaningful corporate culture. When Vanessa and her peers turn her termination into a challenge, they learn from the tenets of THE ART OF WAR, realize that friendships were the true perk of the job, and find a way to a happier ending that can incorporate gainful employment, kittens, and maybe even love. Anastasia talks to Olivia about the jobs and interviews that inspired her story, her own history as a foster mom to kittens, and why being an introvert feels like an obstacle to selling books! For more on the author visit https://anastasiaryan.com/ Follow her on IG, TikTok and Twitter: @byanastasiaryan YOU SHOULD SMILE MORE is available in paperback and for e-readers from Sourcebooks.