124 episodes
Episode 206: Novelist Spotlight #206: Writing lessons from longtime Johns Hopkins professor Mark Farrington
19/08/2026 | 1h 6 mins.In the spotlight is Mark Farrington, who recently retired after nearly 40 years of teaching writing, the past 25 of them teaching writing programs at Johns Hopkins University. Consider his accolades:
His short fiction has won the Editor’s Choice Award in the Raymond Carver Fiction Contest
He was awarded an Individual Artists Grant from the Virginia Commission on the Arts
Four times he was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Award in the Johns Hopkins MA in Writing Program
He won the Outstanding Service Award from the Northern Virginia Writing Project
And the Outstanding Alumni Award from the English department at George Mason University
Farrington has just published his first novel, titled Loss of Life. The novel tells the story of 41-year-old Matthew Winton who awakens in a Virginia hospital after a car accident and has no memory of his life after the age of thirteen.
Learn more about Mark Farrington and his writing instruction here: https://www.markfarrington.net
Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no
Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.comEpisode 205: Novelist Spotlight #205: Literary agent Kate McKean on the myths of publishing success
29/07/2026 | 1h 2 mins.In the spotlight is Kate McKean, literary agent at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency in Brooklyn, New York. She earned her master’s degree in fiction writing at the University of Southern Mississippi, and her work has appeared in Poets & Writers, Electric Literature, and Catapult. She recently published her first book. The title is Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life. She also writes the Agents & Books newsletter at agentsandbooks.com.
Learn more about Kate McKean here: https://www.katemckean.com/
McKean’s book, Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life, can be purchased here: https://snip.ly/nccjn7
Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no
Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.comEpisode 204: Novelist Spotlight #204: Author Nathaniel Popkin writes of Oct. 7 and fractured Jewish identity
08/07/2026 | 1hIn the spotlight is Nathaniel Popkin, author of the new novel Partly Strong, Partly Broken. Set in suburban New Jersey during the fall of 2023 and told through the eyes of a passionate, inclusivity-minded Rabbi, the novel unfolds in the shadow of Hamas’ gruesome attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel's subsequent devastation of Gaza. Partly Strong, Partly Broken is Popkin’s fourth novel and his eighth book.
He is also a writer and producer of history documentary films, the co-founder of the website and public history and journalism project Hidden City. His writing has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times.
Learn more about Nathaniel Popkin here: https://nathanielpopkin.net/
Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no
Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.com- In the spotlight is Jayne Ann Krentz, who has written more than 100 novels under three different pen names. Jayne Ann Krentz writes contemporary romantic/suspense. She uses the pseudonym Amanda Quick for her novels of historical romantic/suspense. And Jayne Castle (her birth name) is reserved these days for her stories of futuristic/paranormal suspense/romance. And she’s out with a new novel titled “Enter the Nightmare,” written as Jayne Castle.
She is also full of writing advice for published and aspiring novelists.
Learn more about Jayne Ann Krentz here: https://jayneannkrentz.com
Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no
Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.com Episode 202: Novelist Spotlight #202: Famed British novelist Graham Greene, as remembered by fellow novelist Thomas Waugh
05/05/2026 | 50 mins.In the spotlight is famed British novelist Graham Greene, as remembered by novelist Thomas Waugh, who also writes historical novels under the name Richard Foreman, who has worked as a literary consultant and publicist to a number of bestselling authors, including William Dalrymple, Simon Sebag Montefiore and Kate Williams. In 2012 he co-founded Endeavour Press, a U.K.-based independent digital publishers. He is also a bestselling historical novelist and the director of the London History Festival. He lives in London.
Learn more about Graham Greene here: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Graham-Greene
Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no
Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.com
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About Novelist Spotlight
Novelist Spotlight is a gathering place for people interested in reading and writing great fiction and literature. This is where you will hear from the authors who write the novels and learn of their motivations, writing process, characters, struggles and successes. Novelist Spotlight is hosted by Mike Consol, a lifelong journalist and author of four novels.
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