“Whether or not money comes out of this is yet to be seen. The main thing is—does it help people? Is it spreading a good message? That’s ultimately why I’m doing this.” — Heather Snodgrass Actor, author, and debut novelist Heather Snodgrass joins me to talk about her first book, A Love Letter to Reading,…

“My trauma is no longer telling me what to do every day the way that it once was.” Vanessa Carlisle Dr. Vanessa Carlisle (they/them)—author, coach, educator, and longtime advocate for sex-working communities—joins me to explore healing after trauma, the complex overlap between sexuality and addiction recovery, and what it means to rebuild connection with self…

“There really is enlightenment and awakening in the intersection between trauma and spirituality—if you go into it and don’t push it away.” — Kristina Amelong In this episode of Uncorking a Story, Mike sits down with Kristina Amelong—artist, healer, founder of Optimal Health Network, and author of the memoir What My Brother Knew. Kristina opens…

Fiction is the only way I know to get to the truth of human experience.” — H. Lee Barnes In this episode of Uncorking a Story, I sit down with award-winning author H. Lee Barnes, whose life journey has taken him from the battlefields of Vietnam to the classrooms of Nevada, and ultimately to the…

“Sometimes you need someone outside of your family and friends to tell you, ‘This part doesn’t make sense,’ or ‘Try it this way.’ That honest feedback is what makes your writing stronger.” – Christine Devane  Christine Devane spent 13 years as a second-grade teacher, where she fell in love with story time and noticed something…

Two attributes of being an author are humility and perseverance. You have to push through a whole lot of no’s and believe you have something there—and have the humility to step back, receive critiques, and let your story grow.” — Camille Di Maio In this episode of Uncorking a Story, I sit down with bestselling…

“The stories aren’t about violence—they’re about the preciousness of life. Each one is a reminder that this could happen to anyone.” — Jude Berman Jude Berman grew up surrounded by books and cultural diversity, thanks to her refugee parents. After a career in academic research and running independent presses, she turned her attention to her…

“Don’t look around—just run your own race. That’s what I’d tell my younger self about writing.”-Melanie Anagnos Melanie Anagnos has worn many hats—waitress, attorney, stay-at-home mom—but her true calling emerged when she pursued her MFA at Sarah Lawrence College. Now, she’s making waves in the crime fiction world with her novel Night Swimming, a police…

“Being disillusioned is a very hard place to be in… but I realized my master’s job was to set me free. In the end, that heartbreak gave me the freedom to discover my own truth.” — Deborah Rudell In this episode of Uncorking a Story, I sit down with Deborah Rudell, author of Grit and…

“When it goes well, writing feels the way it did when I was eight years old—immersed in the story, not thinking about outcome, just the pure joy of language.” – Jackie Thomas Kennedy Jackie Thomas Kennedy, author of The Other Wife, joins Uncorking a Story to explore the craft of fiction, the role of memory,…