Bell Cow Productions: Podcasts

Bell Cow Productions
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Hosts Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride are rounding up the best voices from the Bell Cow Cattle-log and the wider literary world—publishers, authors, and more. This is where we shine a light on the people you need to hear from and the process behind their work. Get ready for short, punchy chats, exclusive author readings, and deep dives into their background and craft. We’re ringing the bell loud and clear, guiding you straight to your next good book, maybe even one written in your own backyard. Join the herd, or least give the round-up a listen: subscribe, like, follow!

  1. 5h ago

    From Librarian to Bookseller: Building Community at Dragon Tale Books, Menomonie, WI (Bell Cow Bookstore Grazing)

    Welcome to Bookstore Grazing, a Bell Cow Productions podcast where hosts Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride go beyond the bookshelves to get to know the independent bookstores—and the people behind them—that help make the literary community work. Every bookstore has a story. How did it get started? What earns a place on the shelves? How do booksellers decide what to recommend, work with local authors, create events, and build a community around books? Bookstore Grazing visits bookstores for casual conversations about their history, their customers, the books they love, and the things readers and authors might never see from the other side of the counter. In this episode, we’re grazing our way to Dragon Tale Books in Menomonie, Wisconsin, where owner Ann Vogl joins Rob and Michael to talk about the five-year journey that took her from wondering whether she could run a bookstore to finally taking the plunge. With a background in both accounting and library science, Ann purchased the inventory and fixtures from longtime Menomonie bookstore Bookends on Main in 2022 and transformed it into Dragon Tale Books—a cozy independent shop carrying new and used books across genres and for readers of all ages. Ann takes us behind the counter to talk about some of the decisions readers rarely see: figuring out which books people will actually want, judging how many copies of a major new release to order, deciding when books have occupied precious shelf space long enough, and balancing national bestsellers with local and independently published authors. We also talk about what author events really look like in a smaller community, why a Saturday signing can sometimes work better than a formal reading, and the challenges self-published authors face when their books aren’t readily available through traditional bookstore distribution. We also explore Ann’s unusual perspective as both a librarian and a bookseller, including the surprisingly big difference between handing someone a library book and asking them to buy one. She shares how Dragon Tale continues to work alongside local libraries, why UW-Stout students help shape what sells in the store, and how book clubs, author visits, downtown events, and even an annual dragon hunt have helped make the bookstore part of the larger Menomonie community. And, of course, we talk books. Ann shares what’s moving off the shelves, why classic literature remains one of her favorite sections, what she’s been reading and listening to lately, and which kinds of books she wishes readers would give a little more love. We also hear about the remarkably supportive network among independent bookstores, where owners trade ideas, organize regional and statewide bookstore crawls, and help one another figure out what works. Visit Dragon Tale Books: https://dragontalebooks.store/ Learn more about Bell Cow Productions: https://www.bellcowproductions.com Please follow, subscribe, like, and share. And, if you're a bookstore who wants to be featured, drop us a line. We'd love to chat. #BookstoreGrazing #BellCowProductions #DragonTaleBooks #MenomonieWisconsin #WisconsinBooks #IndependentBookstore #IndieBookstore #ShopLocal #SupportIndependentBookstores #BookPodcast #BookTube #Booksellers #LocalAuthors #ReadingCommunity #UWStout

    From Librarian to Bookseller: Building Community at Dragon Tale Books, Menomonie, WI (Bell Cow Bookstore Grazing)

  2. Sep 28

    Where Childhood Memories Come to Life: Gunzil & Bowser Bookstore (Bell Cow Bookstore Grazing)

    Welcome to Bookstore Grazing, a Bell Cow Productions podcast where hosts Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride go beyond the bookshelves to get to know the independent bookstores—and the people behind them—that help make the literary community work. Every bookstore has a story. How did it get started? What earns a place on the shelves? How do booksellers decide what to recommend, work with local authors, create events, and build a community around books? Bookstore Grazing visits bookstores for casual conversations about their history, their customers, the books they love, and the things readers and authors might never see from the other side of the counter. In this episode, we’re grazing our way to Warrensburg, Missouri, where Woods Prael joins Rob and Michael to share the story behind Gunzil & Bowser Children’s Bookstore, a wonderfully eclectic shop where childhood memories, vintage toys, and carefully chosen books come together. Nearly five years after opening his doors, Woods has created something that goes well beyond selling books: a place where adults can reconnect with their childhoods and children can discover the stories that may stay with them for a lifetime. Woods shares how a building originally intended for his wife’s art shop became a children’s bookstore, why he named it after an unpublished book written by his father in 1978, and how his brother recently completed that book nearly five decades later. We also explore the realities of running an independent bookstore in a community where other bookstores have struggled to survive, the challenges of attracting customers, and why Woods continues to invest his time and energy into a business that has never been about making money. And, of course, we talk books. Woods explains how he selects titles based on their storytelling, artwork, and ability to create lasting memories. From beloved childhood classics and surprisingly dark picture books to an entire section devoted to children’s horror, Gunzil & Bowser offers plenty of surprises. We also discuss how Woods helps customers find the right books for the children in their lives, why he believes the person doing the reading matters just as much as the child listening, and how a vintage Fisher-Price toy once brought a grown man nearly to tears. Along the way, we talk about supporting local authors, hosting children’s read-aloud events, participating in Missouri’s statewide bookstore tour, and Woods’s local radio program featuring children’s stories and vintage country music. Through it all, Woods reminds us that the magic of a bookstore isn’t necessarily in the books themselves, but in the memories, relationships, and connections we build around them. Visit Gunzil & Bowser Children’s Bookstore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Gunzil-Bowser-Childrens-Bookstore-LLC/61590991623138/ or Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gunzilandbowserchildrensbooks/ or Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/shop/gunzilandbowserbooks Learn more about Bell Cow Productions: https://www.bellcowproductions.com Please follow, subscribe, like, and share. And, if you're a bookstore who wants to be featured, drop us a line. We'd love to chat. #BookstoreGrazing #BellCowProductions #GunzilAndBowser #WarrensburgMissouri #IndependentBookstore #IndieBookstore #ChildrensBooks #ChildrensBookstore #ShopLocal #SupportIndependentBookstores #BookPodcast #BookTube #MissouriBooks #Booksellers #ReadingCommunity #ChildrensLiterature

    Where Childhood Memories Come to Life: Gunzil & Bowser Bookstore (Bell Cow Bookstore Grazing)

  3. Sep 24

    🐮 From War Correspondent to WWII Thriller Writer with John Winn Miller (Beyond the Pasture)

    Author John Winn Miller joins Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride on Beyond the Pasture for a wide-ranging conversation about World War II espionage, investigative journalism, filmmaking, historical research, and his newest thriller, MIRIAM IN THE SHADOWS. John has had the kind of career that almost sounds fictional itself: foreign correspondent, investigative reporter, newspaper editor and publisher, screenwriter, film producer, and now award-winning novelist. In 2026, he was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame. In this episode, John talks about how a dream became the screenplay that eventually launched his Peggy C Saga; why he considers himself a “pantser” rather than an outliner; and the obsessive research that goes into making his historical fiction feel authentic. Along the way, we get into Ian Fleming’s surprising career in British Naval Intelligence, carrier pigeons used during World War II, the challenge of turning screenplays into novels, his Pulitzer Prize-finalist investigative reporting in Kentucky, and his experiences producing independent films. John also gives us an early look at the fourth Peggy C novel, tentatively titled A WILDERNESS OF RATS. MIRIAM IN THE SHADOWS, the third book in the Peggy C Saga, follows Miriam Maduro, a Dutch-Jewish woman turned lethal British SOE agent, as she infiltrates a secret Nazi weapons facility in northern France just before D-Day. Her mission becomes an impossible choice between stopping a threat that could alter the course of the war and saving the man she loves. As John explains, some of the most unbelievable events in his novels are often the ones most closely rooted in actual history. Learn more about John Winn Miller: https://www.johnwinnmiller.com/ Learn more about MIRIAM IN THE SHADOWS and the Peggy C Saga: https://www.johnwinnmiller.com/ Explore Bell Cow Productions: https://www.bellcowproductions.com Learn more about Beyond the Pasture and the Bell Cow podcast network: https://www.bellcowproductions.com/podcasts Subscribe to Bell Cow Productions for more conversations with authors, storytellers, publishers, and literary voices from inside and beyond the pasture. #JohnWinnMiller #MiriamInTheShadows #BeyondThePasture #BellCowProductions #AuthorInterview #HistoricalFiction #WWIIFiction #EspionageThriller #HistoricalThriller #PeggyCSaga #WritingLife #BookTube

    🐮 From War Correspondent to WWII Thriller Writer with John Winn Miller (Beyond the Pasture)

  4. Sep 21

    Michael Allan Mallory in conversation with Cheri Johnson (Mystery Conversations)

    Mystery Conversations: A Bell Cow Podcast brings the best of Minnesota Mystery Night to listeners everywhere. These episodes are recorded live, in front of an audience, at the long-running monthly event that pairs top mystery and thriller writers with smart, engaging interviewers for lively, unscripted conversation. Expect craft talk, publishing stories, crime-fiction gossip of the respectable variety, and the kind of audience energy you only get when book people gather in a room together. Minnesota Mystery Night describes itself as a live, meet-the-author event featuring mystery and thriller writers in conversation with intriguing guests, held on the third Monday of each month in Mendota, Minnesota. These Bell Cow encore presentations preserve those live conversations and give them a second life beyond the room. They also connect to Masters of Mystery Radio Hour, the broadcast version of Minnesota Mystery Night, which is recorded live at the event and carried on radio stations in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, including KRWC-AM, AM950/KTNF, KTOE, KLTF, KCCR, KKBJ, KWNO, WWIS, and KJAM. Bell Cow Productions, meanwhile, exists to support writers through podcasts, resources, and behind-the-scenes literary conversation, which makes this series a natural fit for the herd. Originally recorded 10/20/2025 at Lucky’s 13 Pub in Mendota, Minnesota: mystery writer Michael Allan Mallory sits down with award-winning novelist Cheri Johnson, who also writes as Sigrid Brown, for an evening of lively conversation recorded before a Minnesota Mystery Night audience. This episode brings together two writers whose work crosses mystery, literary fiction, history, research, character, and the complicated question of what happens when the past refuses to remain politely in the past. Bell Cow is proud to give the evening an encore presentation, with the conversation also living on through Masters of Mystery Radio Hour. Michael Allan Mallory is the author of The Lost Dragon Murder, winner of a Best Independent Book Award and a finalist for the Midwest Book Awards and Silver Falchion Award. He also co-authored two novels featuring zoologist sleuth Lavender “Snake” Jones, and his short fiction has appeared in mystery magazines and anthologies. https://www.snakejones.com Cheri Johnson is the author of Annika Rose, winner of the 2022 Women’s Prose Prize from Red Hen Press. Writing as Sigrid Brown, she published the literary mystery The Girl in Duluth, winner of a 2023 Midwest Book Award. https://cheribooksandmusic.com/ https://sigridbrown005.wixsite.com/website Bell Cow Productions: https://www.bellcowproductions.com Minnesota Mystery Night: https://www.mnmysterynight.com Masters of Mystery Radio Hour: https://www.mnmysterynight.com/mmrh #MysteryConversations #MinnesotaMysteryNight #MichaelAllanMallory

    Michael Allan Mallory in conversation with Cheri Johnson (Mystery Conversations)

  5. Sep 21

    Five Years of Fine Print: Building Saline’s Community Bookstore (Bell Cow Bookstore Grazing)

    Welcome to Bookstore Grazing, a Bell Cow Productions podcast where hosts Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride go beyond the bookshelves to get to know the independent bookstores—and the people behind them—that help make the literary community work. Every bookstore has a story. How did it get started? What earns a place on the shelves? How do booksellers decide what to recommend, work with local authors, create events, and build a community around books? Bookstore Grazing visits bookstores for casual conversations about their history, their customers, the books they love, and the things readers and authors might never see from the other side of the counter. In this episode, we’re grazing our way to Fine Print Bookshop in Saline, Michigan, where co-owner Bill Gibson joins Rob and Michael just as Fine Print celebrates its fifth anniversary. Bill shares how he and his wife, Lindsay, discovered while they were dating that they shared the same dream of someday owning a bookstore—and how an attempt to buy an existing shop ultimately led them to open Fine Print from scratch in downtown Saline in September 2021. Five years later, Bill looks back at what they’ve learned: selecting those first shelves of books, discovering what Saline readers actually want, building a staff with different reading specialties, hand-selling books they believe in, and balancing the desire to support local authors with the realities of running an independent bookstore. We also talk about author events, Fine Print’s ongoing renovation, its growing role as a community “third space,” and Bill’s hopes for even more literary events—including the possibility of a larger book-centered festival in downtown Saline. And, of course, we talk books. Bill shares what’s flying off the shelves, what Fine Print’s staff can’t stop recommending, what he’s reading himself, and why the answer to “What book should I buy?” almost always begins with another question. Visit Fine Print Bookshop: http://www.fineprintbookshop.com Learn more about Bell Cow Productions: https://www.bellcowproductions.com Please follow, subscribe, like, and share. And, if you're a bookstore who wants to be featured, drop us a line. We'd love to chat. #BookstoreGrazing #BellCowProductions #FinePrintBookshop #SalineMichigan #IndependentBookstore #IndieBookstore #ShopLocal #SupportIndependentBookstores #BookPodcast #BookTube #MichiganBooks #Booksellers #ReadingCommunity

    Five Years of Fine Print: Building Saline’s Community Bookstore (Bell Cow Bookstore Grazing)

  6. Sep 17

    📚 Bell Cow Book Club: Craig Johnson’s The Brothers McKay

    🐮 Welcome to Bell Cow Book Club, the Bell Cow Productions podcast where Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride read along with the herd and then sit down for a live, unscripted conversation about books worth talking about. No edits. No safety net. No second take. Just two readers, one book, and wherever the conversation takes us. 📖 This month, we’re discussing The Brothers McKay by Craig Johnson, the latest mystery featuring Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire. When the thoroughly disliked Pepper McKay turns up dead at his ranch, Walt finds himself investigating a family with no shortage of motives. Pepper’s very different sons have gathered around him—including a reckless eldest son, a journalist, a monk, and a ranch hand believed to be Pepper’s illegitimate child—and nearly everyone seems to have a reason to want the family patriarch gone. 📚 But there’s another book lurking underneath this one: Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. Craig Johnson deliberately borrows the family structure, characters, conflicts, and murder-mystery framework of Dostoevsky’s classic and transports them to modern-day Wyoming. Rob and Michael dig into those parallels, where Johnson follows Dostoevsky closely, where he deliberately breaks away, and whether knowing The Brothers Karamazov changes the experience of reading The Brothers McKay. We also talk about Pepper McKay as an absent-but-ever-present character, the four very different McKay brothers, Walt’s investigation, the massive wildfire that transforms the second half of the story, the question of whether the literary framework helps or complicates the mystery…and, of course, Borax the mule, who may have a legitimate claim to being one of the book’s heroes. 🫏 🔥 Does the wildfire strengthen the story or pull attention away from the murder mystery? 📚 Does explaining the Karamazov connection make the homage more accessible—or take away some of the pleasure of discovering it? 🔎 And once Craig Johnson gives us a modern version of Dostoevsky’s famous murder mystery, does he ultimately give us a more satisfying solution? ⚠️ SPOILER WARNING: Bell Cow Book Club is a true book-club conversation. We discuss the entire novel, including the identity of the killer, major character deaths, clues, twists, and the ending. Read The Brothers McKay first if you want to experience the mystery without spoilers. 🐮 Learn more about Bell Cow Productions at: https://www.bellcowproductions.com 📺 Follow Bell Cow Productions and join future Bell Cow Book Club conversations live: https://www.youtube.com/@BellCowProductions/streams #BellCowBookClub #BellCowProductions #CraigJohnson #TheBrothersMcKay #WaltLongmire #Longmire #TheBrothersKaramazov #BookTube #BookClub #MysteryBooks #BookPodcast #ReadersOfYouTube #BellCow

    📚 Bell Cow Book Club: Craig Johnson’s The Brothers McKay

  7. Sep 17

    🐮 Bell Cow StoryLab: The Other Side of the Book World: What Publishers See Before Readers Do

    Bell Cow StoryLab is our monthly author panel series, hosted by authors Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride. Each episode brings writers, publishers, editors, and book people into one craft-focused conversation, spotlighting how books actually get built. Scene by scene, choice by choice. Decision by decision. In The Other Side of the Book World: What Publishers See Before Readers Do, we talk with small press and independent publishing professionals about what happens before a book ever reaches a reader’s hands. Most of us see the finished object: the cover, the title, the bookstore shelf, the author event, the online listing. But publishers see the earlier version: the manuscript, the pitch, the rough edges, the promise, the fit, the risk, and the long series of choices that shape a book into something ready for readers. We dig into what makes a publisher lean forward, what makes a manuscript feel ready, how presses think about fit, and what authors often misunderstand about the publishing process. We also talk about the realities of getting books into the world now: discoverability, small press labor, genre expectations, community, bookstores, readers, and the strange, stubborn magic of believing in a book before anyone else has seen it. We get into questions like: What does a publisher notice that readers never see? What makes a manuscript feel ready, or not quite ready yet? How do small presses think about fit, audience, and identity? What do authors often misunderstand about what publishers can actually do? How have the last few years changed the way books find readers? What can readers do to support the presses and books they love? Today’s panelists and publishers Scott R. Welvaert / Skywater Publishing Cooperative: Skywater Publishing Cooperative brings writers, editors, artists, and marketers together around a collaborative model for independent publishing. The cooperative publishes fiction, young adult work, poetry, and other projects while drawing on a shared pool of creative and publishing experience. Scott R. Welvaert is a Minnesota writer, marketer, and Skywater author whose work includes middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction, as well as poetry. https://skywaterpub.com/ Amanda Symes / Dead Birds Publishing: Dead Birds Publishing grew out of the Dead Birds Writing Group and now publishes horror, thriller, and fantasy with a sharp sense of atmosphere, dread, and genre fun. Co-founded by A.M. Symes and Jayne Carlson, the press brings together writing, editing, marketing, and communications experience in service of stories that linger in the dark. Amanda Symes, writing as A.M. Symes, is a Minnesota writer and editor whose suspenseful, ghost-infused fiction has appeared in a range of horror and speculative venues. https://deadbirdspublishing.com/ Catherine Lundoff / Queen of Swords Press: Queen of Swords Press is a Minneapolis-based small genre press owned and operated by award-winning author and editor Catherine Lundoff. The press specializes in science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, adventure, and swashbuckling stories, often centering LGBTQ+ characters and bold speculative worlds. Lundoff is also the author of the Wolves of Wolf’s Point series and other works of queer speculative fiction. https://queenofswordspress.com/ Connect with the hosts Rob Jung: https://robjungwriter.com/ Michael David MacBride: https://www.michaelmacbride.com/ Everything Bell Cow: https://www.bellcowproductions.com/ More StoryLab info: https://www.bellcowproductions.com/storylab #BellCow #BellCowProductions #BellCowStoryLab #StoryLab #IndiePublishing #SmallPressPublishing #WritingCommunity #PublishingAdvice #BookTube #AuthorTube #DeadBirdsPublishing #QueenOfSwordsPress #SkywaterPublishing #FictionWriters #AmWriting

    🐮 Bell Cow StoryLab: The Other Side of the Book World: What Publishers See Before Readers Do

  8. Sep 15

    L.M. Weeks on Poontown - Tarpon Fishing, Obsession & Tournament Glory (Fresh Off the Stack)

    🚨 Welcome to Fresh Off the Stack, the Bell Cow Productions podcast where Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride sit down with authors to talk about brand-new books just as they arrive in the world. This series is all about new releases, the stories behind them, and the conversations that happen when a book is still fresh in readers’ hands. 🖊️ In each episode, we talk with authors about inspiration, process, research, surprises, and what readers can expect when they open the cover. Some conversations focus on craft, some on publication, and some on the real-world experiences behind the story, but every episode begins with a new book and a chance to give it a proper welcome. 🎣 This episode dives into Poontown: A Novel of Chasing Tarpon and Glory by L.M. “Mark” Weeks, released September 15, 2026. Five teams. Five grueling days. One of the most prestigious prizes in competitive tarpon fishing. But as Mark explains, Poontown is ultimately about something even bigger than catching fish: obsession. In this conversation, we talk about what makes a hundred-pound tarpon—the legendary “Silver King”—capable of taking over an angler’s life; the surprisingly intense world of tournament fishing; and the extraordinary teamwork between angler and guide. Mark also shares how years of stories heard on skiffs found their way into his fiction, why Peter Pan and Neverland became an unexpected inspiration for the novel, how he created the book’s cast of fiercely competitive characters, and why he chose to invent his own version of the Florida Keys rather than set the story in a real location. And with Rob Jung being an angler himself, this one naturally includes a little more fishing talk than your average author interview. 📚 About L.M. Weeks: L.M. (“Mark”) Weeks is the bestselling and award-winning author of Bottled Lightning, an international lawyer, a three-time tarpon-tournament Grand Champion, and a multiple fly-rod world-record holder. Raised in Idaho, Mark began fly fishing for trout and steelhead at a young age before discovering saltwater fly fishing after moving to New York for law school. His passion eventually took him around the world and onto the competitive tarpon circuit. Throughout his years on the water, Mark kept notes about the fish, the competition, the personalities, and the stories people told him along the way. Those experiences ultimately became the foundation for Poontown. Learn more about L.M. Weeks: https://lmweeks.com/ Learn more about Poontown: https://lmweeks.com/books/ 📖 Buy a copy anywhere great books are sold! 🐮 Learn more about Bell Cow Productions: https://www.bellcowproductions.com #FreshOffTheStack #BellCowProductions #BookTube #AuthorInterview #BookPodcast #LMWeeks #Poontown #TarponFishing #FlyFishing #FishingBooks #ContemporaryFiction #NewBookRelease #ReadersOfYouTube #BellCow

    L.M. Weeks on Poontown - Tarpon Fishing, Obsession & Tournament Glory (Fresh Off the Stack)
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About

Hosts Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride are rounding up the best voices from the Bell Cow Cattle-log and the wider literary world—publishers, authors, and more. This is where we shine a light on the people you need to hear from and the process behind their work. Get ready for short, punchy chats, exclusive author readings, and deep dives into their background and craft. We’re ringing the bell loud and clear, guiding you straight to your next good book, maybe even one written in your own backyard. Join the herd, or least give the round-up a listen: subscribe, like, follow!

Information

  • Creator
    Bell Cow Productions
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    73
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Bell Cow Productions
  • Show Website
    Bell Cow Productions: Podcasts