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Sharon Bennett Connolly is the best-selling British author of several non-fiction history books. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Sharon has studied history academically and just for fun – and has even worked as a tour guide at a castle. She also writes the popular history blog, www.historytheinteresngbits.com and co-hosts the podcast A Slice of Medieval, alongside historical novelist Derek Birks. 

Sharon regularly gives talks on women’s history, for historical groups, fesvals and in schools; her book Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest, is a recommended text for teaching the Norman Conquest in the Naonal Curriculum. She is a feature writer for All About History and Living Medieval magazines and her TV work includes Australian Television’s Who Do You Think You Are?

Tune in for a fun conversation and great beer!

Sharon’s Readings:

00:00 Start

11:16 The Young Bride’s First Duties

29:12 Stephen’s Coronation

46:43 Matilda at the Helm

Chris’s Cocktail Pairings: 

08:01 The Nikolaschka from Germany

26: The Mourning Cocktail

43:39 Belgian Brownie

Interview Highlights: 

15:21 The Wreck of the White Ship: a king’s tragedy

21:33 How oppressed were women in medieval times?

24:06 How a British author ended up on Australian TV

31:33 Widows and abbeys: the real reason

38:17 Why history is important (and a real-life vampire!)

51:50 Women, Leadership, and Leading Warriors

54:43 Do we ever learn from history?

COMING NEXT MONTH: 

• Like any good soldier’s son, Frank Warner moved with his family from fort to fort, accepted each change, and was ready to move again. Then, in 1960, Frank’s father was ordered to Fort Huachuca (WahCHOOka), Arizona. This was the fifth Army post of Frank’s childhood, the first place he never wanted to leave. So when his father was ordered to Vietnam in 1963, sending Frank and the rest of the family to Pennsylvania, the uprooting wasn’t easy. Frank’s book, “Tumbleeweed Forts: Adventures of an Army Brat,” describes the joys of living in Fort Huachuca, and the heartache of leaving it behind. 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Gabriel’s Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: MUSIC; FAITH
• Laura will be selling her books, premium rabbit fertilizer & more at the Morristown Farmer’s Market, 130 W Morris Boulevar, Morristown, TN on July 5.
• Laura will be at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, TN on October 26 and 27
•  See Laura’s interview at Central Valley Talk
• See Laura’s interview with Rob & Joan Carter at INDIE NOVEL SOURCE

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

If you liked this interview, you might also like:

• The Real John Quincy Adams with M. B. Zucker
• Forty Thieves on Saipan
• The Seven Year Fast with Janelle Molony and Jodie Nasch Decker

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Robert Heath grew up in different places around the world, beginning in Japan in the late ‘40s. Robert and his eight siblings followed the assignments of their father, a sergeant in the U.S. Army.  He ultimately became an educator for 37 years, serving all grade levels from Pre-K through doctoral programs in South and North Carolina.  He now lives in the mountains of NC, where he loves writing and hiking. You can find him at face book at BratBob3of9

We talk about Bob’s adventures growing up in Taiwan, Japan, Germany and the United States, with one sister and seven brothers, life as a military brat, the fun of large families and lots of boys and the antics kids get up to behind mom’s back, U.S. history, bullying…and the day Bob was captured by Chiang Kai-Shek’s soldiers and brought face with the military leader himself!

Tune in for a fun conversation and great beer!

Bob’s Readings:

00:00 Start

08:56 How About a Date?

25:54 Swinging

43:03 Captured by Enemy Soldiers!

Chris’s Beer Pairings: 

07:52 Bell’s Smitten

23:29 Masthead’s Tire Swing

39:54 Great Leap’s The Hidden General

Interview Highlights: 

12:36 How Bob’s mother asked out his future mother-in-law

14:47 The stories mom never knew about–and how they led to a book

18:49 US history through personal experience

33:27 Americans in Japan two years after Hiroshima

36:26 Culture shock on returning to your own country

48:40 Do military parents make a point of not talking politics with brats?

51:16 Wild and free: military life or the times?

COMING NEXT MONTH: 

• Sharon Bennett Connolly has been fascinated by history for over 40 years and was recently elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, ‘in recognition of your contribution to historical scholarship.’ She’s studied history academically and just for fun and even worked as a tour guide at historical sites. One Christmas her husband gave her…a blog – and she hasn’t looked back. The blog has given her the chance to share the history she loves – the stories themselves, and the places they happened.
  And in 2017 she completed her first non-fiction book, Heroines of the Medieval World.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

·        Gabriel’s Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: MUSIC; FAITH

·       Laura will be selling her books, premium rabbit fertilizer & more at the Morristown Farmer’s Market, 130 W Morris Boulevar, Morristown, TN on May 10, June 7, and July 5.

·       See Laura’s interview at Central Valley Talk

·       See Laura’s interview with Rob & Joan Carter at INDIE NOVEL SOURCE

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

If you liked this interview, you might also like:

• An American Kid in Saigon: Sandy Hanna’s front row seat to a coup
• Forty Thieves on Saipan
• Tea with Dad

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Theresa Halvorsen has a “don’t tell me I can’t do that,” attitude about life and is an author, publisher, editor, and YouTuber. She’s ‌overly-caffeinated and at times, wine-soaked. The author of multiple cross-genre works, including Warehouse Dreams, Lost Aboard and River City Widows, Theresa wonders what sleep is. She’s the owner of No Bad Books Press and one of the hosts of the popular YouTube channel, the Semi-Sages of the Pages.

In whatever free time is left, (ha!) Theresa enjoys board games, concerts, geeky conventions, and reading. Her life goal is to give “Oh-My-Gosh-This-Book-Is-So-Good!” happiness to her readers.

She lives in Temecula with her husband, her adult children, their partners (she has no idea who actually lives in her house and who’s just visiting) and many pets. Find her at  www.theresaHauthor.com and on Tiktok and Facebook. 

Theresa’s Readings:

·       Wonderland’s Mad Queen – 8:57

·       River City Widows, Chapter 1 – 23:52

·       Riding the El – 42:55

Chris’s Cocktail Pairings: 

·       Queen of Hearts (paired to Wonderlands’ Mad Queen) – 7:20

·       River City (paired to River City Widows, Chapter 1) – 21:41

·       The El (paired to Riding the El) – 40:21

Interview Highlights: 

·       Building a career as an indie author – 15:08

·       The Dad’s Playbook to Labor and Delivery – 16:09

·       The ghost at Lochranza Castle – 31:36

·       PTSD: victimization, responsibility, blame and trauma – 36:07

·       Stories of portals: are we seeking escape? – 48:40

·       Houses as inspiration – 52:00

COMING NEXT MONTH: J.S. Absher is a poet, memoirist, and independent scholar. As a teetotaler—he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—he can’t add much insight into brews, but he can hold his own when it comes to books.

Stan’s first full-length book of poetry, Mouth Work (St. Andrews University Press) won the 2015 Lena Shull Award from the North Carolina Poetry Society. Stan’s second full-length book of poetry, Skating Rough Ground, was published in 2022 by Kelsay Press.

Poems have recently been published or accepted by The McNeese Review, Mormon Lit Blitz, Triggerfish Critical Review, Irreantum, and Tar River Review and have won awards from BYU Studies Quarterly and the journal Dialogue. His poems have been nominated four times for the Pushcart Prize and twice for Best of the Net. He has also published an annotated editions of two memoirs written in the late 19^th century by Ida Crumpler Beard. 

He currently has two more projects underway.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

·        Gabriel’s Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: MUSIC; FAITH

·       Laura will be selling her books, premium rabbit fertilizer & more at the Morristown Farmer’s Market, 130 W Morris Boulevar, Morristown, TN on April 13, June 7, and July 5

·       See Laura’s interview at Central Valley Talk

·       See Laura’s interview with Rob & Joan Carter at INDIE NOVEL SOURCE

·       Theresa will be at Wondercon in Anaheim: March 29-31

·       LA Festival of Books: April 20-21

·       Comic-Con Revolution in Ontario: May 18-19

·       Comic-Con San Diego: July 25-28

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

If you liked this interview, you might also like:

• Stephanie Sanders-Jacob, UFO abduction and family secrets
• Elizabeth Tucker, professor and author of college ghost stories and lore
• Marian McCarthy: the mortician who heard from the dead