Totally Booked with Zibby

Lea Vale joins Zibby Owens to discuss her new novel Blue Sky Black, the second-chance romance told across two timelines that she wrote as a love letter to the friend she lost on 9/11.

Lea shares her own experience in New York City that day 25 years ago, the trauma of having to cope with a loved one simply disappearing, and the importance of talking about tragedy. She also recounts how the romance genre finally allowed her to write this story, infusing hope and light into such a difficult subject.

Learn more about Lea Vale at https://leavale.com and follow her on Instagram @leavaleauthor
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Zibby was one of the countless people who lost a loved one on 9/11. Stacey Sanders, Zibby’s college roommate, worked in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. To process the loss, Zibby wrote an essay for her business school newspaper, The Harbus, two weeks after it happened. She reads it here to pay tribute to the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kara Kavensky sits down with Zibby Owens to talk about her memoir Tell Me About Joy, inspired by WWII veteran Bob who shared with her his greatest regret: “I missed out on marrying the love of my life. Her name is Joy.”

Interwoven with her own personal story, Kara writes about her journey to find Bob’s long-lost love and how it changed her life. She touches on her own healing after being married to a narcissist, the human face of war, sharing stories of resilience, the heaviness of losing a child, and ultimately, finding joy again.

Learn more about Kara here https://www.karakavensky.com/home and follow her on Instagram @karakavensky

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Jonathan Santlofer joins Zibby Owens for a deep dive into his new novel Ten Perfect Guests, an immersive, fun, “whodunit” thriller following the aftermath of a beloved art figure’s death and the people summoned to a remote island under threat of losing their inheritance.

Jonathan discusses the challenges of juggling ten different points of views, the joy of playing with familiar tropes like greed, lust, and betrayal, and the beauty of finding empathy for his most villainous characters.

He also recounts the discovery of his mild dyslexia in art school, how losing ten years of his artwork to a building fire eventually led him to writing, and the grief of unexpectedly losing his wife.

Learn more about Jonathan at https://jonathansantlofer.com and follow him on Instagram at @jonathansantlofer

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Eriq La Salle joins Zibby Owens to discuss his new thriller Laws of Solomon, the fourth book in his Martyr Maker series, which takes a previous side character who was inspired by The Godfather’s Luca Brasi and lifts him up to the lead.

Eriq discusses the ever-present question of ‘can our most villainous, vile characters find redemption?’, the journey of a character’s soul, how his favorite films have inspired his work, and the coming of age story of a man.

He also touches on his transition from actor to author, the duality of his thrillers, and the blessings that come from failure.

Learn more about Eriq here https://www.iameriqlasalle.com and follow him on Instagram @eriqlasalle
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