Novelist Spotlight Mike Consol

In the spotlight is William Styron, the famed author of novels that included “Sophie’s Choice” and “The Confessions of Nat Turner.” Joining the great author in the spotlight is William Styron biographer Jim West, professor of English, emeritus, at Pennsylvania State University. He is a biographer and book historian, and the author of several books, including “William Styron: A Life.”  We discuss:  >> The controversies spawned by Styron’s most important novels >> Writing with a vision rather than an outline >> Autonomy of characters >> The depression he suffered >> The unspoken competition with Truman Capote >> The spoken competition with Norman Mailer >> His place in literary history >> Etc.  Learn more about William Styron here: https://william-styron.com/obituaries Learn more about James West here: https://english.la.psu.edu/directory/jlw14Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century” and “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play.” Buy them on any major bookselling site. Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.com. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.   

In the spotlight is John Updike and University of Cincinnati literature professor James Schiff, author of the book “John Updike Revisited.” Schiff, who is also editor of the John Updike Review, talks about Updike’s more than 60 books, short stories, poetry, reviews and letters — and the two Pulitzer Prizes and other awards. We discuss his: >> Time at The New Yorker >> Passion for the visual arts >> Work ethic and productivity >> Creation of the Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom series of novels >> Visual writing >> Sexually charged writing>> Etc. Learn more about John Updike here: https://johnupdikechildhoodhome.com/author/johnupdikesociety/ Learn more about James Schiff here: https://researchdirectory.uc.edu/p/schiffja Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century” and “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play.” Buy them on any major bookselling site. Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.com. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.  

In the spotlight is D.H. Lawrence, the great and controversial novelist, and Richard Kaye, professor of literature in the English department at Hunter College, part of the city university system in Manhattan. Since 2017, Mr. Kaye has been the editor of The D. H. Lawrence Review, the 50-year-old journal dealing with the life and work of the British writer. We discuss: >> The censorship of Lawrence’s novels>> Lady Chatterly’s Lover>> D.H. Lawrence’s status as one of the greatest writers of his century>> His modernist works>> His take on social alienation and industrialization>> His championing of sexuality, vitality and instinct>> Etc. Learn more about D.H. Lawrence here: https://www.dhlawrencesociety.com Learn more about Richard Kaye here: https://www.hunter.cuny.edu/english/richard-kaye/richard-kaye Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century” and “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play.” Buy them on any major bookselling site. Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.com. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program. 

In the spotlight is Ben Fox, founder of Shepherd.com, an upstart competitor to Amazon, Goodreads and other major online booksellers. Fox, who reads 100 books a year, believes that books build better human beings, and he is on a mission to help everyone find the book they didn't know they were looking for.   We discuss:  >> The weakness of Amazon >> The strengths of Shepherd >> How the site helps authors and readers >> Bookstores >> Serendipity >> Etc.  Learn more about Shepherd by visiting the website here: https://shepherd.com  Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century” and “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play.” Buy them on any major bookselling site. Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.com. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.  

In the spotlight is the author of “Bright Lights, Big City” — the explosively successful debut novel by Jay McInerney, selling 700,000 copies during its first year, and tens-of-thousands of copies annually for years running. Dubbed a member of the 1980s “brat pack” (along with Bret Easton Ellis and Tama Janowitz), McInerney followed his sensational rookie effort with titles including: “Story of My Life,” “Brightness Falls,” “The Last of the Savages,” “Model Behavior” and “The Last Bachelor,” and others.  We discuss:  >> Writing in second person >> The trappings of literary success >> His new projects >> Raymond Carver >> New York’s literati >> Contrasting the 1980s with the 2020s >> His passion for wine and writing columns about the fermented grape >> Etc.  Learn more about Jay McInerney here: https://jaymcinerney.com  Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century” and “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play.” Buy them on any major bookselling site. Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.com. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program. 

In the spotlight is Sasha Vasilyuk, author of the debut novel YOUR PRESENCE IS MANDATORY, now available for pre-order and soon to be published in the United States, Canada, Italy, Germany, France, Finland and Brazil. She is also a journalist who has written for The New York Times, TIME magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Harper’s Bazaar, NBC, USA Today, and other media outlets.  We discuss:  >> The transition from journalist to novelist >> A key San Francisco writers’ group >> Multisensory writing >> The macrocosm versus the microcosm >> The invasion of Ukraine >> Alexie Navalny >> Russian POWs >> Etc.  Learn more about Sasha Vasilyuk here: www.sashavasilyuk.com   Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century” and “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play.” Buy them on any major bookselling site. Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.com. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.