Anthony Swofford is an American writer and former U.S. Marine, best known for his memoir, Jarhead, which details his experiences in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War as part of a Surveillance and Target Acquisition/Scout-Sniper platoon. He received the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir for Jarhead. A feature film of Jarhead, directed by Sam Mendes and featuring Jake Gyllenhall, playing Tony Swofford, was released in 2005. Subsequent to his military service, Tony pursue...

Susan Gorrell has been the Executive Director of the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival for more than a decade. This renowned festival has grown under Susan’s direction to become one of the most well-respected film festivals in the indie filmmaking world, attracting filmmakers and film lovers from far and wide. MovieMaker Magazine recognized it as one of the “25 coolest film festivals in the world” and one of the “Top 50 film festivals worth the submission fee.” The festiv...

Tom Ruegger is the fourteen-time Emmy Award-winning producer and creative force behind many of the most popular and successful animated TV series of all time, including: Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid, Histeria, Road Rovers, and the feature film, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Tom also co-wrote the pilot and served as a script editor of the Emmy Award-winning animated series Tutenstein. Tom began his career as an animator at Hanna-Barbera Productions on such familiar cartoon series as Scooby ...

Janet Skeslien Charles is the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 international bestselling author of The Paris Library, Moonlight in Odessa, and Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade. Janet’s most recent book, The Parisian Chapter, is available as an audio book only. I’ve read The Paris Library and listened to The Parisian Chapter and can tell you these are both well-written novels of the heart that transported me - to a world I know little about - inside The American Library in Paris as it existed...

Sören “Sulo” Karlsson is mostly known as the frontman of the Swedish boogie rockers, The Diamond Dogs. But he’s also known for being the singer of the UK supergroup, The Crunch, featuring members from The Clash, Sham 69 and Cockney Rejects. Since the early 1990’s, Sulo has been carrying the torch for early 70’s soulful rock ‘n roll well rooted in British history. Through his career he’s worked with artists such as Ian Hunter, Terry Reid, Robert Wyatt, Max Martin, Crystal Gayle, Paul You...

My guest today, Kit Karson, is the author a series of books, The Anderson Chronicles: A Sheriff Elliott Mystery, which currently comprises five novels, including: Land Grab, Innocence Slain, Justice Rendered, Nefarious Intent, and Savage Malice. All five take place in a small Montana town. Interestingly, as prolific as Kit is as an author, writing is not her principal occupation. Born and raised in the mountains of western Montana, Kit spent her childhood traipsing around forests, streams, an...

Alexandra Hainsworth is a British Australian pop artist distributing directly with The Orchard, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music. Her last single, 'Fighter', hit 1.46 million Spotify streams. Collectively, Alexandra has over 330,000 social media followers. Alexandra is an animal advocate for Four Paws Australia. And she has postgraduate qualifications in psychology. She’s also now a novelist. Alexandra's evocative debut book, Kingdom of Flight, details a dystopian vision of Earth's l...

Alretha Thomas has found career success in the second half of her life as an award-winning novelist, playwright, and actress. A resilient survivor of childhood trauma, Alretha is a former model who, as an actress, has appeared in numerous films, TV series, and commercials. She also appeared on two iconic soap operas, Days of Our Lives and General Hospital. Currently, she’s a series regular, playing Anastasia Devereaux, on Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living, which is in its fifth season on BE...

Doug Besterman is a much in-demand orchestrator, arranger, and composer whose works span Broadway, film, television, and concert stages. Doug’s been nominated for the Tony Award six times, winning for The Producers, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Fosse. With a career that includes numerous other iconic productions such as Young Frankenstein, Sister Act, and Anastasia, Doug has helped shape the sound of modern musical theater. Recent Broadway credits include Death Becomes Her, SMASH, and BOOP! ...

This is Tim Quinn’s second time on StoryBeat. An author, editor, and manager, Tim was born and raised in Liverpool, England, the home of The Beatles. He began his show business journey as a clown at Blackpool Tower Circus followed by working as a scriptwriter for various comedians of the period. Comic books came next as Tim worked as a writer and editor for Britain's top periodicals followed by a long stint at Marvel Comics. Alongside his comics work, Tim conducted int...

Teddie Dahlin was born in Norway and graduated from Business School in Gothenburg, Sweden with a degree in International Marketing and Economics. She has worked as a freelance music journalist for several magazines in the UK, most notably Vive le Rock, and she’s written 5 published books. In 2012, after a bad experience with a UK publisher, Teddie established New Haven Publishing to put out her book, A Vicious Love Story: Remembering the Real Sid Vicious, which is her account of being the 16-...

New York Times bestselling and multi-award-winning author, Wanda E. Brunstetter, is considered one of the founders of the Amish fiction genre. Wanda’s written more than 100 books, with over 12 million copies sold, and her work has been translated into 4 languages. Wanda’s stories consistently earn spots on the nation’s most prestigious bestseller lists. Wanda’s ancestors were part of the Anabaptist faith, and her novels are based on personal research intended to accurately portray...

Qin Sun Stubis is a newspaper columnist, poet, and author of the award-winning historical saga, Once Our Lives, the remarkable true story of four generations of Chinese women who struggled to survive war, revolution, and the eerie power of an ancient superstition that seemed to change their lives for nearly 100 years. Born in the squalor of a Shanghai shantytown, Qin overcame poverty, starvation, and the political persecution of her family to win admission to a prestigious Chinese university ...

Animation Director Bill Kroyer was nominated for an Academy Award for his short film Technological Threat, the first film to combine 2D and CG animated characters. He’s perhaps best known for directing the popular animated film, Ferngully, The Last Rainforest, as well as working on dozens of commercials and animated feature film credit sequences. He is also known for having developing the computer generated Lightcycles in the original version of Tron. As Senior Animation Director at Rhythm &a...

The highly popular documentary filmmaker, Rick Sebak, is a native Pittsburgher, who’s worked at Pittsburgh’s PBS station WQED since 1987. Rick’s created dozens of local TV documentaries known collectively as The Pittsburgh History Series, including: “Kennywood Memories,” “What Makes Pittsburgh Pittsburgh?” and “Right Beside The River” as well as many more. He’s also produced 15 national programs for PBS including “A Hot Dog Program,” “A Flea Market Documentary” and “A Few Good Pie Places.” I’...

David Arnoff’s career kicked off with the photos for the Cramps’ Songs the Lord Taught Us album. Since then, he has contributed to dozens of releases by artists including the Dream Syndicate, X, Ramones and the Gun Club. A collection of his work, Shot in the Dark, has been published in the U.S., U.K. and Spain. He has had solo exhibits in Berlin, London, Tokyo, Den Hague and Los Angeles, as well as group shows across the States and Paris. David’s photos are in the collections of the Grammy Mu...

Ed Driscoll is joining me for the second time on StoryBeat. Ed’s an Emmy Award-winning comedian, writer and producer who’s worked with some of the biggest stars in the entertainment industry including: Billy Crystal, Joan Rivers, Michael Bublé, and Dennis Miller to name just a few! Ed’s produced material for variety shows, sitcoms, movies, and live theater. And he’s been a stand-up comedian for over 25 years. Ed’s authored five critically acclaimed books: Spilled Gravy, Looking To Click...

Lady Dhyana Ziegler is currently President and CEO of Z/Creators, LLC and Professor Emerita of Florida A&M University. She’s worked in the field of higher education and technology for more than 35 years as a professor and administrator. Dr. Ziegler is the author of four books, more than 60 scholarly publications - including book chapters - and has produced more than 100 videos and other multimedia works. She most recently published “Midnight Train From Georgia,” which chronicles and...

Samuel A. Simon started his career in Washington, DC as a lawyer for Ralph Nader’s first advocacy group, becoming part of the infamous Nader’s Raiders. He then spent 25 years as the head of a public affairs firm. In that work, he was often in the news, appearing on Face The Nation, The Phil Donahue Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, and many more. Sam subsequently became a playwright and calls his playwriting and theatre work his 4th Age. His first play, The Actual Danc...

Marcia Peck is an award-winning writer and accomplished musician, celebrating over 50 years as a cellist with the Minnesota Orchestra. Inspired by the rhythms and sounds of music echoed in language, her debut novel, Water Music: A Cape Cod Story, combines all her passions – music, writing, and Cape Cod. The book has received critical acclaim and numerous book awards, including Literary Titan Gold, National Indie Excellence, New England Book Festival Regional Lit, and the Feathered Quill...