Book Banter with Rayna

• Book Banter with Rayna Featuring Rien Fertel

  In this episode of Book Banter with Rayna, we talk with author Rien Fertel about his rich and reflective writing on Southern history and culture. We dive into the personal threads that run through his work, how he brings forgotten stories and voices to the forefront, and what it means to write about place with both reverence and critique. - Rien Fertel is the author of four works of nonfiction. He writes about literature for a variety of publications, including the New Orleans Times-Picayune/Louisiana Advocate, where he is the biweekly book critic. He has held a variety of academic positions, most recently as a Visiting Professor of History at Tulane University. - Purchase Rien's books here: https://bookshop.org/lists/book-banter-guests - Book Banter is a laid-back conversational interview with authors, illustrators, creators and other bookish folks. - Subscribe to Book Banter with Rayna wherever you get your podcasts. Watch new content on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@Book_Banter 

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• Book Banter with Rayna Featuring Julia Ridley Smith

  In this episode of Book Banter with Rayna, we talk with author Julia Ridley Smith about her sharp, funny, and insightful new book, Sex Romp Gone Wrong. We dig into the stories behind the title, the humor and heart that shape her characters, plus we talk about some of the books we're reading now. - Julia Ridley Smith is the author of Sex Romp Gone Wrong (Blair), a short story collection, and The Sum of Trifles (University of Georgia Press), a memoir about cleaning out her antique-dealer parents’ house, grief, and what the objects we live with mean to us. Her work has appeared in The Cincinnati Review, Ecotone, Electric Literature, the Missouri Review, New England Review, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. Smith teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. - In her debut story collection, Julia Ridley Smith navigates the currents and eddies of desire, sex, love, and relationships. These twelve highly accomplished stories are witty and accessible, intelligent and thought-provoking. A girls' week at the beach prompts hot tub drinking, awkward confessions, and a poignant reconsideration of friendship. A caregiver extracts a small repayment from her elderly patient for his long-forgotten role in the demise of her family. A young woman, new to New York City, finds herself in a complex but tacky love affair and reckons with the unfolding plot of her life. In the title story, a woman plots to conceive a second child while at a convention hotel with her husband and teenage daughter, both of whom have other plans. Smith's stories will beguile and delight readers while at the same time exploring the deep and often difficult ties of family, marriage, and romantic love in modern life. - Purchase Julia Ridley Smith's books here: https://bookshop.org/lists/book-banter-guests - Book Banter is a laid-back conversational interview with authors, illustrators, creators and other bookish folks. - Subscribe to Book Banter with Rayna wherever you get your podcasts. Watch new content on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@Book_Banter 

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• Book Banter with Rayna Featuring Jared M. Bentley

  In this episode of Book Banter with Rayna, we talk with author Jared M. Bentley about his sharp and heartfelt sci-fi debut, Robots, Please. We explore the story’s blend of humor, humanity, and artificial intelligence, as well as the themes of loneliness, connection, and what it means to be truly alive in a world built by machines. - Jared M. Bentley is an American writer and educator. His collection of short stories, Robots, Please, is the first in a trilogy that humorously explores how to exist in an absurd world. Future work includes his debut novel, Dream Control, which examines resistance against government control in a speculative past version of Earth where dreams can alter reality. Jared's other publications may be found at jaredmbentley.com. Jared lives with his wife (and editor), Amy, in Ypsilanti, Michigan. There he will remain until he receives his ticket to the stars. - Robots, Please is a collection of short stories that explores absurdity. Each story pokes fun at its world and examines a familiar societal flaw. The collection mulls over other themes like art, addiction, foolishness, friendship, parenthood, paranoia, and the duality of life and death. Robots, Please also features robots. Through their inner circuitry, we may better understand what it means to be human. Or not. I guess we’ll see. You may gasp. You may cry. You will most certainly laugh. If not, you should have your behavioral system recalibrated. - Purchase Robots, Please here: https://bookshop.org/a/106612/9798385159475  - Book Banter is a laid-back conversational interview with authors, illustrators, creators and other bookish folks. - Subscribe to Book Banter with Rayna wherever you get your podcasts. Watch new content on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@Book_Banter 

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• Book Banter with Rayna Featuring TQ Sims

  In this episode of Book Banter with Rayna, we talk with author TQ Sims about their bold and tender sci-fi romance, Lovers in Arms. We dive into the themes of queer love, resistance, and chosen family that pulse through the story, and how TQ crafts emotionally rich worlds that feel both epic and intimate. - TQ Sims crafts engaging stories that center Queer characters in supernormal situations. Their sci-fi series The Lovers Universe, including Godspeed, Lovers and Lovers in Arms, follows two men who fall in love while using their psychic powers to battle sentient storms. This compelling tale explores themes of mental health, post-traumatic growth, and the power of found-family. In 2022, TQ’s short story "The Ritual" was a finalist at the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival, showcasing their talent for blending emotional depth with fantastical elements. Their work has also appeared in Louisiana Words, Beyond Queer Words, and The Queer and Trans Guide to Storms. Residing in New Orleans with their partner and an ever-growing number of cats. Connect with them on Instagram @t.q.sims. - As deadly living storms threaten to destroy the world, a crew of Queer warriors must harness their supernatural powers and their deepest emotions to stave off cosmic annihilation. "Lovers in Arms" is a soulbending sci-fi saga that combines heart-pounding space opera with a sizzling LGBTQ+ romance. As Casey and Oscar tap into their justified rage and unbreakable bonds, they uncover the true force propelling them-love worth fighting for, love worth living for. Join them in a journey through multiple dimensions where courage, love, and resilience light the way against the encroaching darkness. - Purchase Lovers in Arms here: https://bookshop.org/a/106612/9781835561973 - Book Banter is a laid-back conversational interview with authors, illustrators, creators and other bookish folks. - Subscribe to Book Banter with Rayna wherever you get your podcasts. Watch new content on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@Book_Banter   

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• Book Banter with Rayna Featuring Anita Felicelli

  In this episode of Book Banter with Rayna, we talk with author Anita Felicelli about her imaginative and genre-blending work. We explore the intersections of identity, science fiction, and philosophy in her writing, and how she uses speculative storytelling to ask big questions about reality, memory, and belonging. - Anita edits Alta Journal‘s California Book Club. Her short stories have appeared in The Massachusetts Review, Air/Light, The Normal School, and elsewhere. She has contributed essays and criticism to the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times (Modern Love), among other places. In 2023, one of her short stories was performed as part of Symphony Space’s Selected Shorts. Anita grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives with her family. She served on the Board of the National Book Critics Circle from 2021-2024. - How We Know Our Time Travelers: Stories, is a dark, intellectual, and surreal collection inspired by the uncertainty of time that explores themes of technology, climate change, reality, love and loss. Atmospheric, speculative stories examine our post-pandemic reality and future. Unsettling, uncanny, cerebral and genre-bending, the book reminds us of the fragility and unreliability of memory, and its invisible impact on the larger moments of our lives. - Purchase a copy of How We Know Our Time Travelers here: https://bookshop.org/a/106612/9798987719770 - Book Banter is a laid-back conversational interview with authors, illustrators, creators and other bookish folks. - Subscribe to Book Banter with Rayna wherever you get your podcasts. Watch new content on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@Book_Banter 

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