Bookable Space: A Space to Launch (and re-launch) Books

In this episode of Bookable Space we’re joined by Heidi Smith. Heidi reads to us from Play On: From Adversity to Advantage Through 140 Years of Women’s Soccer and talks about writing, supporting one another on and off the field, and more. About the bookIn Play On: From Adversity to Advantage Through 140 Years of Women’s Soccer, former soccer player and coach Heidi Smith spoke to countless coaches, players, sports journalists and other experts to trace the history of women’s soccer and its parallels to sociopolitical and women’s rights movements worldwide. “Sexism is pervasive; it just looks different depending on what decade you’re in,” Smith says. “Violence is common, whether it’s in 1890s England or 2010s Iran. Modern football federations have new reasons they can’t pay women’s teams, yet the common denominator fits into 1970s Mexico—the belief that women’s work is less valuable than men’s.”Women’s soccer has advanced significantly, but challenges facing today’s players have been obstacles since the game began. Play On explores that history through the lens of soccer’s “play on” rule: If a player is fouled but in an advantageous position, play can continue. On and off the field, despite chronic and outrageous fouls, women persevered to change the game and the world.About the authorHeidi Smith is a former teacher, magazine editor, soccer coach, trail crew leader, and humor columnist. Her work has appeared in South Sound Business, Educational Leadership and Connected Science Learning. She looks forward to the day she will again have dogs but for now, she borrows other peoples. To be clear, she does ask first.

In this engaging episode of Bookable Space we’re joined by Edith Lynn Hornik-Beer reading to us from To Invest Successfully Terms You Need At Your Fingertips. Edith talks about researching the book, how (and why) the book came to be, the importance of understanding investment terms, and how we can learn from research. It’s an informative discussion about writing, research, and more.  About the bookIn your financial journey, it's essential to be prepared for the road ahead; a nest egg is important for starting a family, buying a home, retiring, or being prepared for a rainy day. Investing can help you fund your dreams, but there are many ways to go about it. Understanding the terminology can make all the difference. To Invest Successfully: Terms You Need at Your Fingertips features a wide array of financial language and defines terms with simple, clear-cut explanations. This guide covers financial subjects including stocks, money instruments, cryptocurrency, real estate, insurance, and loans, organized alphabetically so you can quickly find the terms you need. While this guide is not intended to advise you on how to invest, it can give you peace of mind by helping you understand the terms you need.About the authorEdith Lynn Hornik-Beer attended Simmons University for women. Her writing has been published both here and abroad in such papers as The New York Times, The Denver Post, Neue Zuercher Zeitung (Switzerland). She is also known for her self-help books. She has lectured among others at Chautauqua Institute, Colorado Mountain College, and Long Island University Southampton. About the hostYvonne Battle-Felton is an author, academic, and podcaster. Her debut, Remembered, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Not the Booker, and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize. Winner of The Shirley Jackson Award, Curdle Creek is her second novel. Yvonne was a finalist in the Hurston Wright Foundation Legacy Zora Award for Fiction, has been awarded the RSL Scriptorium Award, and lives in West Yorkshire, England. She aims to create a literary community bringing readers and writers together over words. 

In this episode, of Bookable Space we’re joined by P.M. Raymond. P.M. reads from Things are as They Should Be and Other Things to Die For. It’s rich discussion about writing Southern gothic, what writing New Orleans makes possible, creating fictious places, crafting a short story collection, and more. About the book:THINGS ARE AS THEY SHOULD BE and other words to die for is an interconnected Southern gothic noir journey from reconstruction New Orleans to a present-day Louisiana landscape of terror. Littered with transgressive messages and exploring the limits of greed and vengeance through the lens of race and gender, THINGS ARE AS THEY SHOULD BE unites the supernatural with human failings.Bio:P.M. Raymond is an award-winning author from New Orleans. She is a 2025 Horror2Comic Semifinalist, 2024 Sisters in Crime Eleanor Taylor Bland Award Winner, and 2024 Claymore Award and Killer Shorts Screenplay Finalist. Her work has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Writer's Digest, Punk Noir, and Dark Yonder.Where to buy:Uncomfortably Dark HorrorBookshop.orgYour local libraryIndependent bookstores – my favorites include:Quail Ridge BooksMcIntyre BooksMalaprops Bookstore  About the HostAuthor of Remembered and Curdle Creek, Yvonne Battle-Felton is an award-winning novelist, academic, event host, and podcaster, and lives a literary life bringing people together over stories. 

In this episode, of Bookable Space we’re joined by Scott Gould. Scott reads from Peace Like a River. It’s an engaging discussion about revising characters, returning home, knowing a place well enough to lie about it, writing process, diving into a good story, and more.  About the book: Peace Like a River, the latest novel from acclaimed Southern writer Scott Gould, weaves a lyrical and heartwarming tale of fathers, sons, and grandfathers, and the intricate bonds that define them. Sixty-something Elwin McClennon returns to his hometown in Lowcountry South Carolina— and the dying father— he fled fifteen years before. Accompanied by Thom, his odd and precocious thirteen-year-old son, Elwin embarks on a journey to reconcile with his father, and their complicated pasts, along the banks of the syrup-slow Black River. A captivating exploration of forgiveness, redemption, and the enduring bonds of family, Peace Like a River invites readers into a world where love and loss intersect with the healing power of nature and introspection.About Scott Gould: Scott Gould is the author of six books, including The Hammerhead Chronicles, winner of the Eric Hoffer Award for Fiction, and Things That Crash, Things That Fly, which won a 2022 Memoir Prize for Books. His other honors include a Next Generation Indie Book Award, an IPPY Award for Fiction, the Larry Brown Short Story Award and the S.C. Arts Commission Artist Fellowship in Prose. His work has appeared in a number of publications, including Kenyon Review, Crazyhorse, Pithead Chapel, Garden & Gun, and New Stories from the South, among others. He lives in Sans Souci, South Carolina. About the HostAuthor of Remembered and Curdle Creek, Yvonne Battle-Felton is an award-winning novelist, academic, event host, and podcaster, and lives a literary life bringing people together over stories. 

This episode of Bookable Space was recorded live in front of an audience and streamed on Facebook Live. This episode includes the edited audio. In this episode, Helen reads from Black Swan Shock. It’s a lively discussion about writing place and space, writing stories readers can space into, writing from experience, writing the future, and more.About the bookOlympian Marla Case retires and considers becoming a medical responder. Before committing to that, she is caught in a massive earthquake. Reacting with her physical skills and newly acquired understanding of some emergency medical actions, she helps victims. However, personal tragedy also affects Marla, and she struggles to find catharsis herself.About Helen Hynson VettoriHelen Hynson Vettori (pronounced: HELL-lun HIN-suhn Ve-TOR-ee ) has always lived and worked in the Washington, DC area. Her knowledge and experiences gained as an EMT/paramedic and federal emergency manager enable her to write award-winning books with credible and thrilling Black Swan plots. She lives in Leesburg, VA.About the HostAuthor of Remembered and Curdle Creek, Yvonne Battle-Felton is an award-winning novelist, academic, event host, and podcaster, and lives a literary life bringing people together over stories. 

In this episode of Bookable Space, Alex Crockford reads from The Time Capsule Murders: A Cambridge Mystery and talks about writing place, developing characters, the past as inspiration, and more. It is a delightful episode complete with character voices.About the BookSeventeen years ago, bumbling law student Roger Whiteley and a group of his contemporaries gathered for a pre-graduation party in Cambridge. During the evening they made secret predictions about their futures, which they locked away in a time capsule. The group reassembles in college to open the capsule on the allotted date, but less than twenty-four hours into their reunion one of them is stabbed to death and the capsule itself goes missing. Whiteley is dragged into a treasure hunt with his eccentric former criminology tutor, Gerald Sinclair, as the unlikely duo race to track down the time capsule and unlock the mystery before the killer finds it.  About the Author By day, Alex is a solicitor. He lives in Cambridge with his wife, eleven-year-old son and two rather large, bumbling ragdoll cats.About the HostAuthor of Remembered and Curdle Creek, Yvonne Battle-Felton is an award-winning novelist, academic, event host, and podcaster, and lives a literary life bringing people together over stories. 

In this episode of Bookable Space, Brad Goldberg reads from Z vs V. We talk about writing vampires and zombies, writing Manhattan, creating your own rules, and more.About the BookKyle, one of the few remaining humans, struggles for survival in a world ravaged by both zombies and vampires. Trapped in Manhattan, he and a young girl, Chloe, face dangers from both undead forces, including Chloe's own vampire father who wants to turn her. About the AuthorI grew up in Chester County outside of Philadelphia. After earning a degree in Communications and Creative Writing from Carnegie Mellon University, I studied film at UCLA. As a trailer editor, writer, and producer, I’ve created thousands of pieces of advertising for motion pictures and TV. My fiction has been published in Best Indie Speculative Fiction: Volume IV, Bards & Sages Quarterly, Mobius Blvd., and on RipplesInSpace.com and Teleportmagazine.com.About the HostAuthor of Remembered and Curdle Creek, Yvonne Battle-Felton is an award-winning novelist, academic, event host, and podcaster, and lives a literary life bringing people together over stories. 

In this episode of Bookable Space, Deborah Derrickson Kossmann reads to us from her memoir Lost, Found, Kept. It’s a moving discussion about writing life, writing family, and writing home.About the Book How does a psychologist fail to recognize that her intelligent, sensitive, and book-loving mother has created "the worst hoarder house ever seen?" After making the horrifying discovery that her mother had no water in her house for at least two years, Deborah Derrickson Kossmann begins the otherworldly excavation of a childhood home she hasn't been inside for three decades.Moving back and forth in time, from this surreal nightmare of an archaeological dig to recollecting her past and long buried family secrets, Kossmann seeks to untangle a web of complicated familial relationships. In her lyrical and unflinching quest, she comes to understand what's been lost, what's been found and what's been kept in both her own and her mother's life.About the AuthorDeborah Derrickson Kossmann won Trio House Press's inaugural 2023 Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award for LOST FOUND KEPT: A MEMOIR (January 2025). Her essays, feature articles and poetry have appeared in The New York Times, Nashville Review, Memoir Monday, Psychotherapy Networker and PSYCHE to name a few. Deb is a clinical psychologist who lives in Havertown, PA. https://www.lostfoundkept.com/book-lost-found-kept-memoir-deborah-derrickson-kossmanAbout the HostAuthor of Remembered and Curdle Creek, Yvonne Battle-Felton is an award-winning novelist, academic, event host, and podcaster, and lives a literary life bringing people together over stories. 

In this episode of Bookable Space, Vicky Pinpin Feinstein reads from Beyond Fear and Suspicion, The New Americans in Little Ethiopia. It’s a discussion about writing and telling people’s stories, building trust, and accepting challenges that bring us closer to the stories we want to tell. The episode was recorded in 2025. About the BookWhat happens when a Filipino immigrant tries to know her Ethiopian neighbours? A journey through the heart of Little Ethiopia in a Washington, DC suburb, Beyond Fear and Suspicion: The New Americans in Little Ethiopia braids the stories of former refugees, asylum seekers, students, and diversity visa recipients through forced exits out of their native land, all while still reeling from the traumatic effects of wars, famine, and repressive regimes. Returning to her DC area home after living in Sydney, Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein found that many Ethiopians had moved to the suburb of Silver Spring. In this enriching story of a Filipino American’s curious desire to know these people living and working in what was once an iconic American hometown, fear and suspicion greeted her at every turn. But Vicky was determined. Traveling to Ethiopia, she discovered a fresh perspective on identity, belonging, and the labyrinthine workings of a people divided by ethnicity, politics, and trauma. Beyond Fear and Suspicion: The New Americans in Little Ethiopia chronicles the connections and tensions between “others” struggling to find their way in, illuminates the often-shifting ground of who and what is an American in the 21st century, and reveals the emotional truths behind their courage, redemption, persistence, and hope.About the AuthorVicky Pinpin-Feinstein is a writer, former college lecturer, communications technology and society professional, and author of A Thousand Little Deaths, an account of her experience growing up under the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines. With graduate degrees in the Social Sciences, her career focused on media and society at various institutions. Working with refugees inspired her to write Beyond Fear and Suspicion. She received an Individual Artist and Scholar Award from the Montgomery Arts and Humanities Council. Vicky lives by her motto that life is a curious mix of a love for organization and randomness.About the HostAuthor of Remembered and Curdle Creek, Yvonne Battle-Felton is an award-winning novelist, academic, event host, and podcaster, and lives a literary life bringing people together over stories.