Page Count

Daniel Tam-Claiborne recently appeared at Mac’s Backs Books in Cleveland to discuss his debut novel, Transplants, which surrounds a Chinese college student and a Chinese American teacher who find themselves uprooted in new lives and cultures. Tam-Claiborne sheds light on his inspiration and process, his philosophy on writing outside one’s own experience, the craft of a multi-POV novel, incorporating the real-life trajectory of COVI...

Sportswriter Christine Brennan discusses her latest book, On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports, including how she came to conceive, research, write, and publish the book as an instant New York Times bestseller in only a year. In addition to dissecting Caitlin Clark’s career and impact on the WNBA, Brennan also discusses her Toledo upbringing, the art of sports journalism, succeeding in a male-dominated fi...

We’re leaving 2025 on a note of failure, mishaps, and shame. That’s right: we have bloopers! Listen in to discover that Laura is incapable of saying the word “archivist,” she asks hopelessly clunky questions, she is completely unfamiliar with the 1991 action film Backdraft, she can’t recall the podcast introduction she’s said literally over 100 times, and she even gets popcorn stuck in her throat right before recording. Also, somet...

It’s December, it gets dark in the afternoon, and it’s freezing here in Ohio…what better time to dive into the cheery topic of rejection? Better yet, how about a clip show of rejection goodies? LOL, you’re welcome! This mini episode features clips from seven guests who appeared on Page Count in 2025 and offered some rejection-related insights on everything from submission strategies to the importance of separating the business from...

You’ve just been handed a rectangular-shaped gift with the telltale heft and size of a book. Who knows what worlds might be contained in that one little object? This holiday season, you can give that same gift of possibility by shopping at an independent bookstore—and Nick and Celeste Polsinelli, the owners of Little Professor Book Center in Athens, Ohio, have plenty of ideas to get you started. In this episode, Nick offers a range...

Debut memoirist Tiffany Graham Charkosky discusses the story behind LIVING PROOF: How Love Defied Genetic Legacy, from the medical journey she embarked on after learning she carried a genetic mutation to the years she spent writing and revising the memoir before landing a book deal. Along the way, she also shares the challenges and joys of writing material that is deeply personal, the physical and emotional implications of genetic ...

In her new picture book, Sandra Nickel reveals the true genius behind the iconic Tiffany stained glass lamp designs: Clara Driscoll, an Ohio-born artist who managed the “Tiffany Girls” in Louis Comfort Tiffany’s studio in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While Driscoll’s contributions went unrecognized for decades, we now know she was the artist behind the gorgeous dragonfly, wisteria, poppy, daffodil, and peony l...

For our 100th episode, we’re traveling back in time: to 1915, the setting of Dan Chaon’s latest novel, One of Us, and to September 13, 2025, when this conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at the Literary Cleveland Inkubator Writing Conference. While using his new novel as an example, Chaon discusses the craft of fiction, including voice, setting, point of view, characterization, language, research, revision, and mo...

Cleveland-based children’s book author Tricia Springstubb takes listeners on an adventure through the wilderness via The Wild Robot—how her granddaughter introduced her to Peter Brown’s story, why she loves the novel, and her thoughts on the film adaptation—before discussing her own writing journey. She shares how she came to publish thirteen books since 2010; why she loves writing for young people; the inspiration behind her lates...

Listeners, you’re about to slip through a portal to arrive at the 2025 Columbus Book Festival, where Megan Giddings, Ruben Reyes Jr., and Edward Underhill discussed the ins and outs of speculative fiction: why they write it, why they love it, and the challenges and opportunities the genre presents. We’ve got mysterious doors opening to unknown lands, alternate realties, time slips, and plenty of additional oddities, so step into th...

Lisa Ampleman, Managing Editor of The Cincinnati Review, offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into a literary magazine’s submission review process. By using one poem and one short story recently published in the print journal as examples, she reveals what might catch an editor’s eye in the submission queue, how the editing process unfolded after acceptance, and what kind of changes the authors made to their work. In the process, she ...

Julie K. Rubini discusses her biography for young readers, Virginia Hamilton: America’s Storyteller, which surrounds one of the most honored American children’s book authors of all time. Rubini sheds light on Virginia Hamilton’s life and work, including Hamilton’s childhood in Yellow Springs, Ohio; her early literary ambitions; the professors at Antioch College and The Ohio State University who gave her direction and encouragement;...

This episode celebrates poetry, local voices, parks, biodiversity, and the art of paying attention to the natural world around us. Carrie George and Charles Malone, two co-editors of Light Enters the Grove: Exploring Cuyahoga National Park through Poetry, share how this literary field guide focusing on the plants, animals, and birds found within CVNP came together. From assigning writers species at random (but with some serendipito...

From the songs of Taylor Swift to the skate parks of the Midwest, not to mention pep talks for writers and a guide to Columbus hot spots, this episode has something for everyone. Recorded during a panel discussion at the 2025 Ohioana Book Festival, authors Annie Zaleski, Mandy Shunnarah, Maggie Smith, and Shawnie Kelley discuss the art of nonfiction, including their research, writing, and publishing processes. How does one analyze ...

Join us for an audio tour of the Paul Laurence Dunbar House in Dayton, Ohio. Ryan Qualls, Chief of Interpretation and Site Manager, walks listeners through Dunbar’s final residence and sheds light on the life and work of this prolific, groundbreaking author. Take a step back into history to learn about Dunbar’s early friendship with the Wright brothers; how a pivotal review launched him into literary fame; his dialect poetry; contr...

Forget actors, rock stars, and elite athletes—on Page Count, the real celebrities are librarians. Karen Henry Clark, the author of the picture book Library Girl: How Nancy Pearl Became America’s Most Celebrated Librarian, is here to discuss her friendship with Nancy Pearl, how she came to write a picture book about Pearl’s childhood, the research process, her own writing journey, librarian action figures (and controversy!), what it...

Listeners, welcome to the fifth dimension. We’re joined by Dr. Kim Kiehl, Executive Director of the Ohioana Library Association, to discuss The Twilight Zone and its creator, Rod Serling. We focus on “Mirror Image,” an episode airing in Season 1 of the show’s original run, but we also talk about the series at large, Serling’s Ohio roots and his writing career, and just why The Twilight Zone remains relevant today. We also discuss c...

Poet and editor Dr. Taylor Byas is here to discuss her award-winning debut poetry collection, I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times. Along the way, she shares insights into writing about place, how The Wiz serves as structural inspiration for the collection, her literary inspirations and heroes, the value of Ph.D. programs in creative writing, her editorial work at The Rumpus, the art of chapbooks, managing expectations as an author,...

Hilary Plum discusses her new novel, State Champ, which surrounds an abortion clinic employee who goes on a hunger strike to protest her boss’s imprisonment. In this far-reaching conversation, Plum sheds light on the spontaneity of art and protest; the history of the hunger strike; the dark joys of writing a complicated, acerbic protagonist; elite athletes; eating disorders; crafting a novel’s plot (or not); small press publishing ...