Joan Frank joins Suzanne M. Lang on A Novel Idea (Aired: November 29, 2020)

Northern California writer Joan Frank is a woman who quotes Dorothy Parker with ease and whose conversations are as good as her books. Joan’s published her third book of 2020; The Outlook for Earthlings is a stunning work of prose and an insightful look into lives over time and experience. Joan Frank joins Suzanne M. Lang in conversation.

A Novel Idea airs on the first and fifth Sundays of every month at 10:00 am on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org /Download the FREE KRCB mobile app @ iTunes & Google Play!

(Photos: Courtesy of the author)

A Novel Idea

December 31, 2021
Rosemary Manchester shares her autobiography on A Novel Idea (Aired: January 2, 2022)
A young couple with four little children experienced a calling to the missionary life and found themselves living in the crisis time of independence in the African Congo. Turn Left at the Big Anthill is no fiction, it’s Rosemary Manchester’s memoir: a layered and fascinating story of a transitional…
December 03, 2021
Rosemary Manchester previews her new book on A Novel Idea (Aired: December 5, 2021)
It’s a sneak peek ahead to a conversation with Rosemary Manchester about her book Turn Left at the Big Anthill, a Memoir, her story of living in the Congo— with her four young children, during the tumultuous time of its independence from the Belgians. We also feature a dip into the archives and…
November 05, 2021
Two young new literary voices on A Novel Idea (Aired: November 7, 2021)
It’s two young new literary voices on this edition on KRCB’s A Novel Idea with Suzanne Lang. Kendra Atleework’s book is Miracle Country, a Memoir of a Family and a Landscape; set in the Eastern Sierra, it is up there with the best of writing on California. Also featured is Shruti Swamy with her…
October 28, 2021
Peri Chickering and Carolyn Lee Arnold on A Novel Idea (Aired: October 31, 2021)
Over the years it seems that many of the authors we’ve featured have been published by Berkeley based She Writes Press, including our featured authors on this episode. Peri Chickering joins me this week with her book based on the Indigenous concept of the Seven Directions, Leadership Flow: the…
October 04, 2021
Joanna FitzPatrick and Jeanne Baker Guy on A Novel Idea (Aired: October 3, 2021)
Nonfiction that reads like a novel, and a novel steeped in modern California history are approached by Suzanne M Lang in conversation with Joanna FitzPatrick and Jeanne Baker Guy. FitzPatrick’s novel, The Artist Colony is a murder mystery set at a women’s art colony in the dynamic environment of…
September 02, 2021
Suzanne Lang talks with Kent Wong on A Novel Idea (Aired: September 5, 2021)
Author Kent Wong's memoir, Swimming to Freedom -My Escape from China and the Cultural Revolution, an Untold Story is a riveting tale of his life in China as a boy during the Cultural Revolution. Wong joined the dissident underground and became one of the half million other Chinese who braved the…
Aug 31, 2021
Award-Winning Authors Jessica Barksdale Inclán and Nancy Econome on A Novel Idea (Aired: August 29, 2021)
Fiction can be fantasy, fiction can reflect back to us who we are, and at its best it does both while being an entertaining read. Such is the case…
Aug 09, 2021
Sailing the Early Seas of Pirate Radio in the U.K. on A Novel Idea (Aired: August 1, 2021)
Scampering across balconies, rooftops, and even Mick Jaggers house, to string antenna wire across London, Arnold M.D. Levine details the antics and…
Jul 04, 2021
A Novel Idea Features Jonathan Taplin (Aired: July 4, 2021)
“I believe in Rock-and-Roll, books, and movies to upset the world” says Jonathan Taplin author of The Magic Years, Scenes from a Rock-and-Roll Life.…
Jun 07, 2021
Cheryl Krauter & Rachel Michelberg on A Novel Idea (Aired: June 6, 2021)
Sometimes we move through life and are blindsided by catastrophe, and each individual’s response is unique and their own. No roadmaps, but there are…
May 27, 2021
A Novel Idea Features Andrea Pitzer (Aired: May 30, 2021)
The year is 1597. The setting is the Upper Arctic. In search of a northeast passage to the Orient, Dutch cartographer William Barents and his crew…
May 02, 2021
On the Road Again: Journalist Brad Herzog Joins Suzanne Lang on A Novel Idea (Aired: May 2, 2021)
Suzanne Lang is on the road and her guest, journalist Brad Herzog, brings us his own travelogue in Detour 2020, a Cross-country Drive through…
Apr 09, 2021
Award-Winning Author L. Annette Binder on A Novel Idea (Aired: April 11, 2021)
Award-winning author L. Annette Binder has created a moving and intimate portrait of an ordinary German family affected by war in the waning days of…
Mar 07, 2021
Richard Alther Discusses His New Novel Bedside Matters on A Novel Idea (Aired: March 7, 2021)
There is the promise of life, even at its end. Richard Alther’s novel Bedside Matters explores the ultimate question: what matters most? Alther,…
Feb 05, 2021
Bohemians West: Free Love, Family, and Radicals in Twentieth-Century America on A Novel Idea (Aired: February 7, 2021)
Bohemians West — Free Love, Family, and Radicals in Twentieth-Century America is the story of free love and the radical movement of the early…
Jan 01, 2021
Historian Lynn Downey Joins Suzanne Lang on A Novel Idea (Aired: January 3, 2021)
Lynn Downey is a historian of the American West, longtime archivist with Levi Strauss & Co, and has two new books worth talking about, whether you’re…
Dec 07, 2020
Join Suzanne M Lang in Conversation with Brandon J McDermott on A Novel Idea (Aired: December 6, 2020)
“Radio saved me.” Brandon J McDermott grew up pretending to be a baseball announcer and ranking all the songs he knew said just this about himself:…
Nov 01, 2020
David Stebenne Joins Suzanne Lang for A Novel Idea (Aired: November 1, 2020)
David Stebenne unwraps how the middle class was created but then could not hold in his book Promised Land, How the Rise of the Middle Class…
Oct 02, 2020
Charmian Kittredge London Biographer Iris Jamahl Dunkle on A Novel Idea (Aired: October 4, 2020)
Charmian Kittredge London was a great American writer, Jack London’s second wife, and is the subject of Iris Jamahl Dunkle’s biography Charmian…
Sep 04, 2020
Flying Free with Cecilia Aragon on KRCB’s A Novel Idea (Aired: September 6, 2020)
Aerobatic flying, as described and practiced by Cecilia Aragon, a world champion aerobatic pilot, is a dance in the sky, with spins and turns and…
Aug 28, 2020
Obi Kaufmann on A Novel Idea (Aired: August 30, 2020)
A Novel Idea comes from 9000 ft above sea level in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains of California, where Suzanne M. Lang brings you her…
Aug 02, 2020
Chana Porter on A Novel Idea (Aired: August 2, 2020)
Risky authors play with form and defy easy description, and this is the case with two authors who through their radical storytelling
Jul 05, 2020
A Celebration of Food and Family with Two Award-Winning Authors on A Novel Idea (Aired: July 5, 2020)
Food and family sustain us, especially during trying times. We celebrate this with two award-winning authors in
Jun 07, 2020
Caitlin Hamilton Summie Explains Why Our Stories Are Important on A Novel Idea – June 7, 2020
Our stories are important. It is our stories that connect us. So says Caitlin Hamilton Summie, author of
Jun 01, 2020
Suzanne Lang Talks with J. Chester Johnson – May 31, 2020
White people kill black people. Despite Emancipation, despite the Civil Rights movement of now over fifty years ago, white people
May 03, 2020
Barbara L. Baer Talks About Her Latest Novel, The Ice Palace Waltz on A Novel Idea (Aired: May, 3, 2020)
Suzanne M. Lang welcomes Barbara L. Baer in conversation on her latest novel, The Ice Palace Waltz, the multi-generational
Apr 05, 2020
Namwali Serpell & Martin Puchner on A Novel Idea – April 5, 2020
Namwali Serpell is an Associate Professor at UC Berkeley and a well-published cultural critic who has now
Apr 01, 2020
Margaret Wilkerson Sexton and Jessica Winters Mireles (Aired: March 29, 2020)
Suzanne M. Lang talks with two authors whose novels reflect on gender and family, race and ethnicity, and the effects
Mar 01, 2020
Joan Frank – Try to Get Lost, Essays on Travel and Place on A Novel Idea – March 1, 2020
Try to Get Lost! We continue celebrating the work ofJoan Frank. We recently featured her book of four novellas, Where You’reAll
Feb 02, 2020
Joan Frank Shares Her Wit and Insight on A Novel Idea – February 1, 2020
This week on A Novel Idea, richly drawn characters, vivid language, and compelling pace and story create the most satisfying
Jan 05, 2020
Journalist and Author Susan Swartz Joins Suzanne on A Novel Idea – January 5, 2020
Death and dementia aren’t all that funny, but really,sometimes they are, especially when we open
Dec 29, 2019
Two Favorites from 2019 This Month on A Novel Idea (Aired: December 29, 2019)
On this final week of this last month of the decade, webring you two favorite conversations of this past year. Both
Dec 01, 2019
Peter Mehlman Takes on Gender Politics in his New Book #MeAsWell on A Novel Idea – December 1, 2019
#MeAsWell , a novel by Peter Mehlman takes on genderpolitics, race, and the ubiquitous control of Social Media on our
Nov 03, 2019
Roberto Tejada, Plus Russian River Poet Pat Nolan Join Suzanne M. Lang for A Novel Idea – November 3, 2019
Roberto Tejada’s Still Nowhere in an Empty Vastness is expansive in its range: from accounts
Oct 06, 2019
Author and Musician Amy Edwards on A Novel Idea – October 6, 2019
ReInvention! Amy Edwards does it, again and again. FromAustin, Texas, Edwards is a musician, hosts
Sep 29, 2019
Jonah Raskin Joins Suzanne Lang – September 29, 2019
Dark Day, Dark Night is Jonah Raskin’s sequel to Dark Land,Dark Mirror, where we were
Sep 01, 2019
The transHuman Code and Grandmother Power on A Novel Idea – September 1, 2019
The Fourth Industrial Revolution.Heard of it? Maybe not, but I guarantee, you’re living in it. Technology and artificialintelligence, genomics and…
Aug 04, 2019
Teacher, Author, and Poet Deborah Tobola on A Novel Idea – August 4, 2019
Hummingbird in Underworld, Teaching in a Men’s Prison ispoet Deborah Tobola’s memoir of working in
Jul 07, 2019
Eliot Pattison in Conversation with Suzanne Lang on A Novel Idea – July 7, 2019
Bones of the Earth is the tenth installment in the Inspector Shan mystery series by award winning
Jun 30, 2019
Bo Kearns and Frank Strausser Join Suzanne M. Lang on A Novel Idea – June 30, 2019
Bo Kearns and Frank Strausser join Suzanne M. Lang in conversation. Each has published a first novel after years of writing in other forms: Kearns as…
Jun 02, 2019
The Guest Book Author Sarah Blake, and Author Laurie Ann Doyle – June 2, 2019
The Guest Book follows three generations of a powerfulAmerican family as their wealth declines, examining “not just a privilegedAmerican family,
May 21, 2019
Suzanne Lang has World Traveler Dena Moes and Journalist Jo Geise on A Novel Idea – May 5, 2019
Mothers always take their children somewhere in life and on the planet. Dena Moes traveled with
Apr 07, 2019
Brian Fies and R. L. Rotary – April 7, 2019
Suzanne M. Lang visits with two Sonoma County writers who bring us their stories of moving beyond adversity. Journalist, blogger,
Mar 03, 2019
Michael Morey – March 3, 2019
Author and independent historian Michael Morey’s book, Fagen: An African American Renegade in the Philippine-American War, unpacks American…
Feb 03, 2019
Carol Rosenberger’s Memoir of Musical Survival – February 3, 2019
At age twenty-one, while studying music abroad, Carol Rosenberger was struck with polio resulting in paralysis of the very muscles she needed to play…
Feb 03, 2019
Carol Rosenberger’s Memoir of Musical Survival – February 3, 2019
At age twenty-one, while studying music abroad, Carol Rosenberger was struck with polio resulting in paralysis of the very muscles she needed to play…
Jan 06, 2019
Barbara L. Baer & Hilary Moore – January 6, 2019
Barbara L. Baer, publisher of Floreant Press and author of two previous novels joins Suzanne M. Lang in conversation on her latest book set in the…
Dec 29, 2018
Samira Ahmed & Robin Whitten – December 30, 2018
Love, Hate, & Other Filters is Samira Ahmed’s novel of a young Muslim American woman finding her way through contemporary cultural challenges. Samira…
Dec 02, 2018
Thomas E. Cochrane – December 2, 2018
Oil makes the world go round and geologist Thomas E. Cochrane delivers candid and lively remembrances of his life and experience in the American…
Nov 04, 2018
Barbara van Driel, Andrew Shaffer – November 5, 2018
This moment in history, in culture, in our election cycle demands truth and craves heroes. We cover both with Suzanne Lang on KRCB’s A Novel…
Oct 24, 2018
Susan Hand Shetterly – October 7, 2018
Seaweed. It plays a vital role in ocean ecology, and also in our health and diet, and in our local and global economies. Seaweed Chronicles: A World…
Sep 30, 2018
Gregory Couch – October 1, 2018
Gregory Crouch joins Suzanne M. Lang in conversation on his epic western history of California wealth and the Comstock Lode, bringing focus to one of…
Sep 02, 2018
Cynthia Lim, Susan Avery Stewart – September 2, 2018
Suzanne Lang speaks with author Cynthia Lim, whose book Wherever You Are, A Memoir of Love, Marriage, and Brain Injury is an odyssey through loss and…
Aug 05, 2018
Jonah Raskin – August 5, 2018
Jonah Raskin has a large and ranging body of non-fiction books and articles and now has come out with a detective fiction of a different order, Dark…
Jul 29, 2018
Bruce Holbert – July 30, 2018
San Francisco’s City Lights Bookstore, the landmark independent bookstore founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, recently…
Jul 01, 2018
Brad Herzog – July 1, 2018
A timely encore presentation of Rosemary Manchester in conversation with Brad Herzog, collaborator on Carolyn Goodman’s memoir, My Mantelpiece: a…
Jun 10, 2018
Martin Puchner, Alexandra Chasin – June 10, 2018
From Homer to Harry Potter, literary critic and philosopher Martin Puchner takes the reader on an epic journey through the history of literature, and…
May 06, 2018
Adam Federman, Elaine Khosrova – May 6, 2018
It’s all about food. Suzanne Lang talks with Adam Federman on his book Fasting and Feasting, the Life of Visionary Food Writer Patience Gray. Gray…
Apr 01, 2018
Bruce Holbert – April 1, 2018
To celebrate the release of Bruce Holbert’s third novel, Whiskey, here is a reprise of two previous conversations between Bruce and Suzanne M Lang on…
Mar 04, 2018
Sy Montgomery, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas – March 5, 2018
Tamed and Untamed, Close Encounters with the Animal Kind. Suzanne Lang talks with two of the world’s most celebrated animal writers, Sy Montgomery…
Feb 04, 2018
Berbara Ridley, Laurie Ann Doyle – February 4, 2018
Two California writers who both had long non-literary careers before publishing these heralded first works join Suzanne M. Lang in conversation on…
Jan 07, 2018
Jaime B. Hansen, Rand Ertll – January 7, 2018
Emerging from the economic consulting and the tech sector, Jaime B. Hansen aims to inspire and empower women through videos, speaking and speaking…
Dec 31, 2017
Val Bodurtha, Barbara Baer – December 31, 2017
History, culture, and strong women are at the core of the two novels: The History Makers by Val Bodurtha and The Ballet Lover by Barbara Baer. You’ll…
Dec 03, 2017
Gin Phillips, Rachel Khong – December 3, 2017
Featured on KRCB’s A Novel Idea, two novelists whose books hit big this year. Fierce Kingdom is a thriller of a book by Gin Phillips, which takes…
Nov 13, 2017
Kermit Roosevelt, Larry Hendricks – January 3, 2016
This episode of KRCB’s A Novel Idea features Suzanne Lang in conversation with Kermit Roosevelt on his latest novel, Allegiance, an historical…
Nov 13, 2017
Jeffrey Miller – January 31, 2016
This episode of KRCB’s A Novel Idea is an “encore” presentation of a favorite broadcast, originally broadcast in 2010, featuring Andre Codrescu and…
Nov 13, 2017
Richard Michael Levine, Lucille Lang Day – February 7, 2016
This month’s A Novel Idea features authors Richard Michael Levine and Lucille Lang Day. Levine has just published a short story collection, The Man…
Nov 13, 2017
Eva Rutland – March 6, 2016
To honor Black History Month and International Women’s Day (March 8th) we present Rosemary Manchester with an encore presentation of a show featuring…
Nov 13, 2017
Abby Geni, Lewis deSoto – April 3, 2016
Big Nature, Big California The Farallon Islands, remote and mysterious, is the setting of Abby Geni’s novel of nature and mystery, The Lightkeepers.…
Nov 13, 2017
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas – May 1, 2016
Suzanne Lang speaks with Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, who has spent a lifetime observing other creatures and other cultures, from her own backyard to…
Nov 13, 2017
Linda Hervieux, Jeane Slone – June 5, 2016
Black lives matter. Suzanne Lang explores the injustices of Jim Crow American and the valor of an all-Black battalion whose D-Day contributions have…
Nov 13, 2017
Wendy E. Simmons – July 4, 2016
Wendy E. Simmons is a world traveler. Not a novice. Not a pushover. Her trip to North Korea challenged every bit of her perceptions of herself and…
Nov 13, 2017
Kenneth Wishnia – August 7, 2016
Mystery writer Kenneth Wishnia joins Suzanne Lang in conversation on his latest novel, The Fifth Servant, which is set in 1592 Prague, where a young…
Nov 13, 2017
William Luvaas – September 4, 2016
William Luvaas, NEA grant recipient who has been recognized for his short stories and novels alike, joins Suzanne Lang in conversation on his third…
Nov 13, 2017
Meg Waite Clayton – October 2, 2016
New York Time’s bestselling author Meg Waite Clayton joins Suzanne M. Lang in conversation about The Race for Paris, Clayton’s compelling novel of…
Nov 13, 2017
Fred Euphrat, Donna Richardson Robbins – October 30, 2016
California forests and the rich natural history of Sonoma County are brought to light with Fred Euphrat, forester and author of Sonoma Mandala, a…
Nov 13, 2017
Kimball Taylor, Emma Blad Smith – December 4, 2016
A Novel Idea, with Suzanne M. Lang, takes a look at California’s borders: the immigrants traveling over our Southern border rolling in on bicycles,…
Nov 13, 2017
Elaine Khosrova, Barbara Doud Wright – January 1, 2017
This edition A Novel Idea with Suzanne Lang features two authors who go deep into our cultural histories and help us understand where we’ve come from…
Nov 13, 2017
Jonah Raskin, Alison Owings, Elena Ferrante – January 29, 2017
This encore presentation features Rosemary Manchester in conversation with Jonah Raskin on his book James McGrath: The Life and Times of an…
Nov 13, 2017
Paul H.B. Shin, Wendy E. Simmons – February 5, 2017
Elite North Koreans struggle to protect themselves and their families in the face of a paraonoid, tyrannical regime in award winning journalist, Paul…
Nov 13, 2017
Paul H.B. Shin, Wendy E. Simmons – February 5, 2017
Elite North Koreans struggle to protect themselves and their families in the face of a paraonoid, tyrannical regime in award winning journalist, Paul…
Nov 13, 2017
Jessica Teich, Cathy Wild – March 5, 2017
A Novel Idea with Suzanne M. Lang features Jessica Teich with her memoir The Future Tense of Joy. A Rhodes Scholar, Teich happens upon an obituary of…
Nov 13, 2017
Heather Lyn Mann – April 3, 2017
15,000 nautical miles, six years, and a world of insight ….Heather Lyn Mann joins Suzanne Lang in conversation about Heather’s journey as expressed…
Nov 13, 2017
Jonah Raskin, Thomas E Cochrane – April 30, 2017
Prolific author and curious man, Jonah Raskin joins Suzanne M. Lang in conversation on his book A Terrible Beauty: the Wilderness of American…
Nov 13, 2017
Gary Soto, Gerald Haslam – May 7, 2017
Encore presentation of a 2013 broadcast features Suzanne Lang in conversation with author and poet Gary Soto and Rosemary Manchester talking with…
Nov 13, 2017
Shanti Sekaran, Shelby Londyn-Heath – June 4, 2017
A Novel Idea features two novelists, whose books couldn’t be more different. Both write about the challenges of difference, of motherhood, and of…
Nov 13, 2017
Daniel Pyne, Stephan Mack Jones – July 2, 2017
Neo-noir and crime fiction with Suzanne Lang in conversation with Daniel Pyne, screenwriter, show runner of Amazon’s hit drama Bosch, and author of…
Nov 13, 2017
Thais Nye Derich, Cathy Langlois – July 30, 2017
Suzanne M. Lang talks with Thais Nye Derich about her path of self-examination and learning to discover that she, like many other women, was a victim…
Nov 13, 2017
Susan Sherman, David Boling – September 3, 2017
Historical fiction radiates into the present with two novels featured on A Novel Idea. Join Suzanne M. Lang in conversations with Susan Sherman on…
Nov 13, 2017
Peter Afrasiabi – October 1, 2017
Top intellectual property and entertainment lawyer Peter Afrasiabi joins Suzanne Lang in conversation on his recent book Burning Bridges, America’s…
Nov 13, 2017
J. Jaye Gold – October 29, 2017
J. Jaye Gold has been a hustler and gambler in his life, but sought a new way of being in his that lead him on a journey around the globe, and
Nov 05, 2017
Joan Frank, Richard Alther – November 5, 2017
On KRCB’s A Novel Idea, two authors at the top of their form —Joan Frank, with her novel All the News I Need, and Richard Alther and his book Roxie…
Dec 12, 2016
Gayle Forman, Silas Dent Zobal – November 6, 2016
Suzanne Lang talks with Gayle Forman, a literary star in the Young Adult genre, who has recently released a novel, as she says, starring adults and…

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