Desideratum
Desideratum is a Latin word meaning 'things that are desired as essential'. The Desideratum Podcast celebrates storytelling as an essential thing - the art of telling and the journey of listening. Join me audiobook narrator Theresa Bakken and my wordsmith friends for new episodes every Friday showcasing the talents of authors and narrators. Listen to conversations with writers and scenes from their audiobooks. Tune in to hear an artist you love or to find your new favorite storyteller. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theresa-bakken/support
Episodes
Folly Park is a story about history, race, identity, and friendship. At its heart is a woman named Temple Preston and her old, crumbling, ancestral plantation in Virginia. With the discovery of long hidden, disturbing family secrets, Temple gets wrapped up in exposing these family secrets as a way to save the ancestral home, until she begins to question whether it's really worth saving.
Author Heidi Hackford talks about the c...
This is a story about a quiet, thoughtful man named Harlan Leblanc. The story is about how and why Leblanc gets tangled up in a murder investigation. You'll hear from author James Wade about the action and the allegory he created, and about the ways he tried to mirror and balance the darkness and hope in this gritty tale. We talk about the humor he found in indecision and inflammation. And, how his young daughter is shifting...
Her new crime mystery 9 Days got us talking about tarot card readings and wondering if how the stars aligned at the time of our birth could shape or guide us... That's because author Jule Selbo's new murder mystery 9 Days opens with a world famous astrologist confessing to murder. When the astrologist's 12 year old son doesn't believe his mother is guilty, he hires Private Investigator Dee Rommel to find the truth...
The Deception is about life and death and the delicate veil between the two. The story spirals around an Illusionist running from her past, and a Medium whose past fame and spirit guide have abandoned her. The pliable Maud (the Medium known as the Maid of Light) and the clever Clementine (a master of tricks and illusions) join forces to find fame and fortune, but at what cost… does the end justify the means?
Listen as author Kim T...
Ellen Marie Wiseman is drawn to the dark corners of history, where rumors and mystery shroud the truth. It's where she finds and develops characters who shine. Listen as she shares how her own history led her to write about hidden truths and social injustices. We're talking about her new novel, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook, which is set in a real state run institution exposed back in 1972 for its atrocious abuses. Ellen ...
Author Carol Van Den Hende sought solace in writing and then committed to sharing what she learned about resilience with her readers. Her novels Goodbye Orchid and Orchid Blooming are about love, personal growth, and trauma recovery. Listen to how she drew inspiration from combat wounded veterans. Find out why her own personal love story (how she met her husband) influenced her characters' brushes with kismet. Hear an excerp...
With a cast of many characters, telling the story from more than a dozen vantage points - Johnnie Bernhard takes readers on a journey with a widow and a sojourner in her new novel Hannah and Ariela. Johnnie's connection to the land, the people, and the history of Texas shine through, but listen to how writing from all these different points of view challenged her and made her "put her ego in her back pocket". We talk a...
She comes from a long line of resilient, resourceful, and quirky Colorado women, and she loves finding obscure historical facts to write about. But, while Randi Samuelson Brown's new novel is rooted in the past, it's action and suspense are current and contemporary. We're talking about book one in her new series featuring a Brand Inspector in Colorado cattle country. It's called Brand Chaser and it's layered ...
When was the last time you read a middle grade fiction? This week's featured author Heather Mateus Sappenfield will convince you it's time with her new novel The River Between Hearts. It’s an adventure with an almost-11 year old girl named Rill. It’s a story about friendship and compassion - and loss and longing. You'll spend a few minutes with her main character Rill and her friend Perla in a reading that hints at the...
Welcome to Episode 50! We’re talking to author Elayne Audrey Becker about her novel Forestborn - a fantasy story about human frailty, self doubt, and the dangers of othering - all examined through a magical lens. We begin with Elayne sharing why she made her main character Rora a shapeshifter.
You will hear a scene from Chapter 1 when Rora is working as a spy for the king - tracking cases of a deadly disease. The scene takes place...
In our conversation with Jeffrey Blount, we talk about foundations, race relations, thunderstorms, banana seat bicycles, and parenting. His novel The Emancipation of Evan Walls centers on the childhood of a boy in the late 1960’s who decides he wants to be somebody. Jeffrey's characters frustrate, illuminate, foster empathy and inspire. The novel is not an audiobook yet, so I asked my friend and fellow narrator Earl Sewell to ...
James Wade’s writing washed over me. I felt and heard the rhythm and tone he gave his novel River Sing Out. You’re going to hear some of the audiobook from his narrator Roger Clark - who has voiced about a hundred audiobooks, worked in theater and film, and is perhaps best known for portraying Arthur Morgan in Rock Star Games’ Red Dead Redemption. But first, listen to James explain why his characters have vivid dreams - why it’s ...
James tells a tale steeped in nature and human nature - with violence and addiction creating a ripple effect in his character's lives. It is hard for me to articulate just how poetic his prose and his writing style is - how he conjures something musical in his writing. In this outtake we talk about the cycles where he found his rhythm and truth. Listen to the full episode this Friday. #desideratumpodcast #riversingout #cycl...
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