Dedicated with Doug Brunt

Megan Marshall: Caipirinha (lime, sugar, cachaca)

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biography, Megan discusses the distinctions between biography and narrative history, her frustration with historical fiction that is irresponsible and inconsistent with the historical record, her own transition from poetry to biography and the mentors who helped along the way, the evolving notion of feminism, and her favorite book from childhood that ...

Montel Williams: sparkling water with cranberry juice  

Montel reveals the worst thing about being deployed on a submarine, explains how Tom Clancy angered the US Navy with his book THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, describes some of the riveting naval scenes in his book that involve the aircraft carrier INTREPID as well as the much earlier US Navy ship INTREPID (1798) that fought Barbary pirates, recounts the guest he finds most memorable ...

Carl Hiaasen: gin & tonic (Barr Hill gin, tonic, lime wedge)

Carl discusses the talented Vince Vaughn and how he will forever more inhabit the character Yancy, tells how his surroundings in Florida have changed so much since the time of his youth and why that has inspired him to make Florida a recurring ‘character’ in his novels, reveals a time that he was nearly eaten by an alligator while floating on an inner tube, shares incredib...

Chris Pavone: Americano (Campari, sweet vermouth, club soda, orange twist)

Chris discusses his early career experiences in publishing meetings with Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis and what her work meant to him and other colleagues, the gifts his wife possesses that made her a great CEO for Penguin Random House and that also guided him to a writing career upon recognizing he did not possess those gifts, how his life as an expat inspired h...

J.D. Barker: White Russian (2 ounces vodka, 1 ounce Kahlua, 1 ounce heavy cream)

J.D. talks about how he stalked and then connected with Stephen King, how his partnership with James Patterson has changed his writing method, the way he has turned his Asperger Syndrome into his secret weapon for writing novels, the landmark publishing imprint of his own within Simon & Schuster and how he worked with CEO Jonathan Karp and the private e...

David Baldacci: sparkling water

David names the two most underrated thriller writers, describes the way that planning-then-writing a novel can be similar to Tom Brady practicing-then-playing a football game, reveals the mystery books from his childhood that made him love reading, tells of a peak moment of dejection when he doubted he could ever become a writer, shares the story of a bizarre book signing event, talks about the fragil...

Marcy Dermansky: House of Balloons (2 ounces vodka, 1 ounce Aperol, 1/2 ounce lemon juice, 1/2 ounce grapefruit juice, simple syrup, top with club soda)

Marcy talks about the struggles of a working writer including waiting in an unemployment line in New York while holding her newborn baby the week of publication of her novel, her isolating move to Germany and her return to New York where she was a more productive writer, how publish...

Gregory Maguire: Ginger Mojito Mocktail (grated ginger, grated cucumber, mint, lime juice, ginger ale, sparkling water)  

Gregory reveals the one book that he later realized had subconsciously guided his reimagining of Oz for his novel WICKED, shares his thoughts on the departures that the adaptations (both stage and film) have taken in reimagining WICKED, names the one children’s book that made him want to be a writer, names 3 book...

Elizabeth Staple: Old Fashioned (water, sugar, bitters with 2 1/2 ounces whiskey, garnish with orange and cherry)

After working in media relations for the NFL's New York Giants and the New England Patriots, Elizabeth delivers her debut crime thriller THE SNAP that takes us behind the scenes of an NFL franchise. She discusses the many points of overlap between her fictional character and her real-life work experiences that include fr...

Alissa Wilkinson: Gibson (3 ounces gin, 1/2 ounce dry vermouth, onion)

Film Critic for the New York Times, Alissa gives her take on the Oscars, shares some insider info on Siskel and Ebert, discusses the beginning and end of the Golden Age of TV along with some of her favorites from the era, reflects on Joan Dideon’s admiration for John Wayne and Barry Goldwater along with her surprising takes on their present day closest equivalent...

David Grann: Mojito (2 ounces white rum, 1 ounce lime juice, sugar, mint, topped with club soda)

David discusses his early years covering politics on Capitol Hill, how his mother paved the way for women executives in publishing as the first woman CEO of a major publisher and how she eventually agreed that writing was a good career choice for David, describes conversations with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese to review details ...

Capt. Karl Anderson: Spanish Manhattan (2 1/2 ounces Pilar rum, 1 ounce sweet vermouth, bitters, garnish with orange rind)

Karl tells of the assignment that his parents gave him when he was a young boy that instilled in him the discipline to become a writer, reminisces about the stories of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig fishing and gunning the same territory that he has, shares the process by which he translates the magical moments he’s h...

Wendy Walker: Greyhound (1 1/2 ounces vodka, 2 1/2 ounce grapefruit juice)

Wendy shares the meticulous approach she took to becoming a bestselling author that began with learning what kind of fiction works for the market, describes what she likes about James Patterson's "winning structural formula", describes her early careers as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs and then as a corporate attorney, tells how motherhood brought h...

Alafair Burke: Vesper Martini (2 ounces gin, 3/4 ounce vodka, 1/2 ounce Lillet Blanc)

Alafair reveals the haunting impressions of growing up in Kansas during the active period of the BTK serial killer and how that time influenced her path to practicing law and writing crime novels, how she applies her experience as a DA to the pages of her crime thrillers, the differences between writing the novel and writing for film and TV, how sh...

Lili Anolik: gimlet (2 1/2 ounces gin, squeezed lime juice, sugar)

Lili shares some of the scoop from her terrific biography DIDION & BABITZ including Harrison Ford supplying drugs to much of the 1960s Los Angeles literary scene, Steve Martin's slightly awkward early romantic life, sex with Jim Morrison and Jackson Browne. She also discusses how we can come to understand the identity of a decade retroactively, why some writers conti...