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I got a hold of Beautiful Boy and Tweak less than 24 hours before I had the chance to meet and interview David Sheff and his son Nic. And what an interesting 24 hours it was. I spent that time totally immersed in their story and felt like I was seeing old friends when they arrived at the office.

Although their books feel completely different and are geared to completely different audiences, they share the same story; Nic’s terrifying cycle of drug addiction, recovery and relapse.

As a parent, I related to what David was going through. These are smart, successful parents with smart and talented kids. I’m sure, like most of us, they never thought it could happen to them. Nic could have been my kid or yours. That’s the scary part.

Reading Nic’s story takes you away from the headlines and the statistics and gives a face and a humanity to the addiction. By turns I was angry at him, but then wanted to hug him and protect him just they way I know his father does.

I hope you will enjoy the interview and will get great meaning out of both of these incredible books.

Enjoy the interview, and click here to check out the rest of the great authors talking about their books on our podcast!

Interviewing an author is not as straight forward as you might think. Often they are coming in from out of town for 24 hours or less and have a fairly tight schedule while they are here.

Sometimes the authors have been affected by the congestion and general purpose ickiness that is Atlanta traffic.

Sometimes the schedule is plagued by the questionable info on the various mapping websites that often will lead them to some place other than our office.

And sometimes they arrive at the right place and the right time and for some unknown reason the recording equipment will decide not to work.

Alas – on the scheduled date of my interview with Jasper Fforde, it was the airline that got in the way. We were supposed to meet at noon that day. He was to come to straight to our offices after getting off a flight from Miami. But the plane broke. Okay – I’m sure it was more technical than that, and probably less dramatic, but you get the idea. Our poor author had to spend something like 4 hours on the tarmac while the plane fixers did their thing.

And even after all that Jasper was gracious enough to meet with me at his hotel in the 30 minutes he ended up having before his 7PM book signing event. So I reshuffled my day, packed up my equipment and headed down to the Ritz Carlton in Buckhead. It was worth it.

Shades of Grey is a fascinating read – and as you’ll see in the interview one that I had trouble classifying. Is it Sci-Fi? Is it social commentary? Is it just good fiction? I think yes, yes and yes. Oh and if you love a good British accent like I do, you won’t want to miss today’s podcast.

Enjoy the interview, and click here to check out the rest of the great authors talking about their books on our podcast!

Daniel Pinchbeck is out there. Maybe even way out there, depending on where you are, but he is also most definitely a man of action. As a young man living in New York City and working as a journalist, Daniel faced what he calls a spiritual crisis. Many people in his situation might have just weathered the storm, maybe taken up yoga or found a hobby like bungee jumping. But not Daniel. He wanted answers.

So he went on a journey – both physically and psychically. The journey led him to Shamanism, psychedelic drugs, Mayan culture and more – and led him to believe (to know – in his words) that these things had meaning, were real and tangible and should and could be applied to the economic and environmental challenges of today .

His journey into Shamanism and psychedelics is chronicled in his first book: BREAKING OPEN THE HEAD. His second book 2012: THE RETURN OF QUETZALCOATL (which I was afraid to pronounce in the podcast – even though I really practiced ahead of time!) digs deep into the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar and what that really means in terms of the year 2012 and the immense change he believes is already underway.

His latest book NOTES FROM THE EDGE TIMES is a series of essays Daniel wrote since the publication of 2012. It touches on topics from the environment to the economy to monogamy and psychic ability.

As a man of action – Daniel is not afraid to call it like he sees it. Daniel quotes Einstein and others in the book who say “You don’t solve problems with the kind of thinking that created them” – and whether you buy into his solutions or not, you have to admit that sentiment rings true.

Interviewing Daniel was a challenge to be sure! He’s a smart guy who backs his thinking with lots of research. Give it a listen, then check out the books and form your own opinion.

— Dana Barrett, Podcast Host

PS – did I mention Daniel is the one of the creators of 2012: Time for Change, a documentary with stars like Sting, Ellen Page and David Lynch. It’s currently debuting in selected cities around the world.

Like this interview? Subscribe to the podcast today!
Want more of the Better World Books Podcast now? Click here to check out the rest of the great authors who stopped by or called in for a chat!

Comments or questions about the podcast? Feel free to comment here on the blog, or email me at podcast AT betterworldbooks.com.

Michael Malone is the best award winning, New York Times bestselling author you’ve never heard of. His latest novel, THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE SKY, is a rare combination of page turning adventure and deeply complex writing. And it should be — he spent 10 years writing it. You get the feeling when you talk to Michael that he doesn’t write for the money or the fame but because he genuinely loves to write.

This is a guy who has won an Edgar, an O. Henry, and even an Emmy for his television writing and he is as unassuming and easy to talk to as you could ever imagine. In addition to his writing, Michael is also a professor at Duke University and as I interviewed him I found myself jealous of his students. This is a guy you could really learn from.

But I digress. The book is the story of Navy pilot Annie Peregrine-Goode and her quest to find her father, the identity of her mother, and most of all herself. Built on a subtle Wizard of Oz base, the story is about love, secrets, and the mysterious bonds of families.

One of the things I loved most about THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE SKY is the detail that went into creating the lives and back stories of even the smallest characters. It’s a large cast and not one character is a cardboard cut out. Quite a feat.

So, if you’d already heard of Michael Malone — you know what I’m talking about. If you hadn’t...well, you have now. Grab a copy of the book and he’ll soon be one your favorite authors.

I hope you enjoy the interview! Click here to check out more great authors talking about their books on our podcast page!

NY Times Bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey and I are kindred spirits. While I am not a NY Times Bestselling author, we both started out in IT and ended up in books and we both had stops along the way that included acting and stand-up comedy. A couple of years ago I actually interviewed Eric on the phone for the radio show I was doing at the time, but this was the first time I was going to meet Eric in person, so I was pretty excited to meet him.

And I was not the only one. Eric had some adoring fans in our office who were happy to get to meet him too (and unhappy with me – because I gave them no advance warning so they didn’t have their books with them to get an autograph!)

From Left: Kimeke Armstrong, Eric Jerome Dickey and Curtis Hoosier

When we sat down to chat, we talked about everything from Eric’s stand-up comedy days to his summer vacation and of course we also got around to talking about his latest book, TEMPTED BY TROUBLE.

The book is the story of a couple who lose their jobs and lifestyle during the current economic crisis and who are pushed (and pulled) into some (very) bad choices out of desperation. It’s a dark tale about good people who do bad and bad people who do worse. The book has all the shadows and grit of a classic black and white movie up to an including the mysterious man in the fedora. It will keep you turning pages until the very end.

I hope you enjoy the interview – and pick up a copy of the book! It’s a great discussion book for book clubs too.

— Dana Barrett, Podcast Host

Like this interview? Subscribe to the podcast today!
Want more of the Better World Books Podcast now? Click here to check out the rest of the great authors who stopped by or called in for a chat!

Comments or questions about the podcast? Feel free to comment here on the blog, or email me at podcast AT betterworldbooks.com.