Front Porch Book Club

Today we interview Kayla Rae Whitaker about her new novel, RETURNS AND EXCHANGES. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to have a family business, this book is for you! We learn about Kayla’s inspiration to write RETURNS AND EXCHANGES and get her perspective on the complex characters and interrelationships she builds around the rise and fall of Baker-Taylor discount stores.
Kayla Rae Whitaker is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and New York University. Her first novel, THE ANIMATORS, was named a best book of the year by Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, and BookPage. She lives in Queens, New York.
We discuss Kayla's journey from English major to major author. She tells us just what she tells her students: if you want to see your name on the spine of a book, it's very possible.
Kayla tells us how homesickness and a trip to Sears gave her the shape of the story for RETURNS AND EXCHANGES.
Linny says she really liked the depth of each of the characters in RETURNS AND EXCHANGES. Kayla says she loves reading family epics, such as EAST OF EDEN. She wanted to write the kind of book she likes to read.
We loved talking about our many favorite characters and Kayla tells us the importance of writers loving all their characters: even Fred. Kayla likes to start with characters first and then find the stories around them.
We learn that Kayla loves to think about how birth order impacts her characters and we find out she is the youngest, just like Birdie, her easiest character to write!

EAST OF EDEN by John Steinbeck

George Saunders

Kayla’s Website

Kayla’s Instagram

After discussing the super fun time they spent together the week before, Linny and Nancy discuss RETURNS AND EXCHANGES by Kayla Rae Whitaker. This best-seller is the sweeping story of one Kentucky family’s tragicomic rise and fall throughout the 1980s. The plot revolves around parents Fred and Fran, they are the family behind the discount store chain, Baker-Taylor, that is expanding rapidly across the South and Midwest United States. The family values façade of the chain, and the family, starts to crack pretty early with an inter-company affair. Linny and Nancy relished the decade-long story of Fred and Fran’s four kids and their relationship with their parents, siblings, and the company. Both Linda and Nancy enjoyed the epilogue where several years have passed following the cataclysmic events of the story’s end.
Koco’s Pub in Baltimore
Sunrise Soap Company in York

We have a rollicking time with author Molly Fader. Her latest book, LADY X, became available on July 14. Molly is the author of four novels, including THE MCAVOY SISTERS BOOK OF SECRETS which is about two sisters from a small Pennsylvania hometown! Writing under the pseudonym, Molly O’Keefe, Molly Fader is the USA Today Bestselling author of over 50 contemporary romances. And Molly is a podcaster. Her podcast is called Day Drinking with Authors. She interviews authors, and others in the industry, about their recent releases, inspirations, and what’s happening next in publishing. And do it all while having a cocktail. Or three. She says!
We discuss how Molly's love of romance was borne from early tragedy. After a successful career as a romance writer, however, Molly decided she needed to write beyond that genre. It was a painful switch in agenting and publisher.
Molly tracing the inspiration for LADY X, including the incident in which she felt she poorly advised her teenaged daughter who was experiencing harassment.
Nancy reveals where she cried during the story and Linny and Nancy regale Molly with stories of their visits to 1970's New York on unchaperoned high school bus trips.
We talk about powerful men who abuse women and women who fight back. We also talk about how women sometimes enable the abuse of other women.
This is a gritty, realistic, clear-eyed look at female relationships from the 1970's to today. And, all three of us love ally Todd.
Molly’s podcast called DAY DRINKING WITH AUTHORS

Amy Clark’s podcast called the BOOK GANG

Kate Hilton’s CITY OF THE MUSE

The Women’s March in DC

Molly’s Website

It’s a hot summer in 1977. Son of Sam is on the loose and avigilante, Lady X, is meting out justice to abusive men. Linny and Nancy discuss Molly Fader’s new book, LADY X, and the feminine rage three young roommates experience in 1970’s New York. And also, in this dual-timeline book, modern day Margot whose A-list actor husband has been caught sendingcompromising pictures to girls. Ugh. We see women banding together, but this gritty book painfully shows how women also sometimes fail each other. This time, Nancy admits she cried reading the book (usually it’s Linny!). We alsoget updates on Linny’s acting gigs (can you say “speaking roles”?!), and, Nancy’s tennis teams’ trips to Districts and Regionals. In their endeavors, both Linny and Nancy are practicing Dr. Larry Widman’s positive self-talk!
 
Episode 45. Linda and Nancy discuss MAX OUT MINDSET by Dr.Larry Widman:
https://frontporchbookclub.com/podcast/45-max-out-mindset-by-dr-larry-widman/
 
Episode 46. Author Dr. Larry Widman supercharges our newyear telling us about his book, MAX OUT MINDSET:
https://frontporchbookclub.com/podcast/46-author-dr-larry-widman/
 
Episode 127. Linda and Nancy discuss THE MIDNIGHT SHOW:
https://frontporchbookclub.com/podcast/127-the-midnight-show/
 
Episode 128.  AuthorsLee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne join us to discuss THE MIDNIGHT SHOW:
https://frontporchbookclub.com/podcast/128-lee-kelly-and-jennifer-thorne/
 
Son of Sam:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz
 
1977 New York City blackout:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977
 
PAIGE REVIEWS BOOKS review of LADY X:
https://paigesmith.net/tag/molly-fader-lady-x/

Today we interview Lindsey Goldstein about her book, GAP YEAR.
One of her early publications was an adorable personal essay she wrote for THE NEW YORK TIMES' Modern Love column:
At the cusp of 40, Lindsey decided there was only gain to try her hand at becoming a novelist. She wrote her first novel in her early 40s. GAP YEAR was her third novel and first published one.
GAP YEAR takes place in Ecuador, where Lindsey has visited and has swum with the penguins and sea lions, just as Jane did in GAP YEAR. Lindsey, like Jane, also had a gap year (traditional one, though!) and stayed in a hostel. We explore other ways Lindsey pulled from her own experiences, including those as a friend, daughter, and mother to bring realism to the novel.
We talk about youthful dreams and the importance of pursuing those that are meaningful to you, even if in just small steps.
Lindsey tells us how other authors have inspired her passions and her writing, including:
Bill Bryson’s A WALK IN THE WOODS

Rebecca Serle’s IN FIVE YEARS

Ashley Poston’s alternate reality books

Linny and Nancy discuss the REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES series and reminisce about how much they loved chatting with author Shelby Van Pelt.
Episode 71: Our review of REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES
Episode 72: Our chat with Shelby Van Pelt, author of REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES