James J. Patterson Reads from MELANIE’S SONG on Latest LFTRR
The new mystery novel by ASP's Joanna Biggar is given the Patterson treatment in Episode 11 of Live from the Reading Room
“Melanie’s Song is an unputdownable, riveting feat of storytelling.”
Set in the era of Woodstock and Watergate, Melanie’s Song centers on a young woman’s mysterious disappearance, and on her friend’s determined search for her.
Melanie, who fled her marriage to a straight-laced classical musician in order to hitch-hike to Woodstock and San Francisco, was last seen at a commune in the California hills. Rumors abound: that she took up with a Black radical; that she had his child; that she and her lover, armed, ran a bank heist a la Patty Hearst; that she developed a mystical gift for spiritual healing; that she died in a possible accidental, possibly staged commune fire.
Trying to sift truth from invention pulls her friend, the young reporter, J.J., into the underbelly of the sexual and social revolutions of the 60s and early 70s, where she encounters corrupt cops, paranoid hippies, activists, mystics, drug-runners,and most astonishingly, Melanie’s own parents. Risking her job, her connections, her life, J.J. follows Melanie’s trail, determined to find out what happened to her once-compliant friend now turned, it seems, into a rebel angel.
Grace Cavalieri’s “The Poet and The Poem” Receives Grant From MD Humanities
MD Poet Laureate Grace Cavalieri recieves a grant from Maryland Humanities for her long-running radio program and podcast, The Poet and The Poem.
Episode 15 of LFTRR Examines Kickass Female Characters in Three Novels
James J. Patterson extends his string of excellent episodes concerning women writers of literature. On this, the fifteenth(!) episode of LFTRR, he looks at three contemporary novels dear to his heart, all of which feature strong-willed female characters.
Elizabeth Hazen on (Blog) Tour: A Look Back at GIRLS LIKE US Blog Tour
Blog Tours have become a necessity for many in the age of C19. A look back at Elizabeth Hazen’s blog tour for her recent collection “Girls Like Us.”