Bell Cow's Field Notes: C. M. Alongi and Michael Allan Mallory: Fandom, Mystery, BookTok & the Future of Storytelling

🐮 Tess Stimson on The Perfect Accident, Psychopaths & Killer Twists (Beyond the Pasture)

🚨 What happens when a thriller begins with an impossible choice? In this episode of Beyond the Pasture, Bell Cow Productions hosts Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride sit down with Tess Stimson, bestselling author of psychological thrillers including The Perfect Accident. Tess’s latest novel, The Perfect Accident, was released April 23, 2026. The book begins with a devastating tragedy: a high school prom held on a boat on Lake Champlain ends in disaster, forcing one sister into an unthinkable choice. Save her own son, or save her nephew and twenty-one other teenagers. From there, the story moves through grief, blame, secrets, small-town suspicion, and the consequences that ripple long after the accident itself. In this wide-ranging conversation, Tess talks about writing psychological suspense, creating villains who linger after the last page, the gray space between empathy and danger, and why she is drawn to characters who are complicated, damaged, manipulative, and fascinating. The conversation also explores her shift from women’s fiction into darker thrillers, her background in journalism, the difference between fact and fiction, and the writing process behind twist-driven novels. 🐮 Beyond the Pasture is Bell Cow Productions’ author-centered conversation series for voices from across the literary landscape. Hosts Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride talk with writers about who they are, where they come from, what shaped their books, and what readers will discover once they open the cover. In this episode, we explore: • The Perfect Accident and its impossible moral dilemma • Writing psychological thrillers that keep readers turning pages • Why Tess Stimson is drawn to villains, psychopaths, and moral gray areas • The difference between serial killers, mass violence, and fictional suspense • The role of nature, nurture, empathy, and manipulation in character development • How journalism shapes Tess’s fiction • Setting a thriller in Vermont and Lake Champlain • Why characters matter more than letting location do all the work • Plotting, pantsing, twists, and the “double tap” reveal • Audiobooks, narrators, voice, and reader expectations • Early influences, genre shifts, and the creative life of a working writer 📖 Buy The Perfect Accident anywhere books are sold! 🌐 Learn more about Tess Stimson: https://www.tessstimson.com/ 🎙️ Connect with the hosts: Rob Jung: https://robjungwriter.com/ Michael David MacBride: https://www.michaelmacbride.com/ 🐮 Learn more about Bell Cow Productions: https://www.bellcowproductions.com/ Subscribe, like, follow, and come wander Beyond the Pasture with us. #BeyondThePasture #BellCowProductions #TessStimson #ThePerfectAccident #PsychologicalThriller #ThrillerBooks #SuspenseBooks #AuthorInterview #BookPodcast #BookTube #WritingCommunity #WritersOfYouTube #AuthorConversation #CrimeFiction #MysteryBooks #ThrillerReaders #NewBookRelease #ReadersOfYouTube #BellCow

🐮 Bell Cow Author Round-up: Brian Lutterman | Incel and the Pen Wilkinson thrillers (with hosts Rob Jung & Michael MacBride)

The weekly Bell Cow Herd Podcast, hosted by authors, Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride, rounds up the best voices from the Bell Cow Cattle-log and the wider publishing world—publishers, authors, editors and more—to shine a light on the people who compose the remarkable Midwestern literary community. With short, punchy chats, exclusive author readings, and deep dives into their background and craft, you’ll get to know, like never before, the people who embellish our lives via the written word. The podcast rings the bell loud and clear, guiding you straight to your next favorite author, maybe even one who writes in your own backyard. Join the herd. Give the round-up a listen: subscribe, like, and follow! Today we’re joined by Minnesota author Brian Lutterman, author of Incel and a suspense series featuring Pen Wilkinson, a whip-smart paraplegic attorney who refuses to stay quiet when something feels wrong. Brian’s work blends momentum with moral pressure: secrets, power, and the uneasy feeling that the system is built to protect the wrong people. Brian writes thrillers that do not just chase plot twists, they chase consequences. The tension is real, the stakes stay personal, and the questions underneath the action linger. In this episode, Brian talks about writing Minnesota-set suspense, building a series character readers stick with, and how he balances pace with depth.You can learn more about Brian at: https://brianlutterman.com/ His books, including Incel and the Pen Wilkinson series, are available wherever books are sold, including Once Upon A Crime.You can find out more about your hosts: Rob and Michael at their webpages (https://robjungwriter.com/ and https://www.michaelmacbride.com).And, of course, you can find everything about Bell Cow at the official webpage: https://www.bellcowproductions.com (🐮 -- moo!)#bellcow #bellcowproductions #interviews #authors #roundup #bellcowroundup

Bell Cow's Field Notes: C. M. Alongi and Michael Allan Mallory: Fandom, Mystery, BookTok & the Future of Storytelling

📚 What keeps a story alive when books are competing with every screen in the room? In this episode of Bell Cow Field Notes, hosts Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride are joined by C. M. Alongi and Michael Allan Mallory for a lively conversation about storytelling across books, fandom, BookTok, fantasy, mystery, graphic novels, video games, and online culture. Together, they dig into how stories move across platforms, how readers discover new books, how fandom can become a doorway into fiction, and why narrative drive matters whether you are writing fantasy, mystery, serialized content, or character-driven speculative fiction. 🐮 Bell Cow Field Notes brings together expert guests, authors, and creative voices to explore the real-world material behind great fiction. Built from the Bell Cow network of Author Round-Up, StoryLab, the Cattle-log, Fresh Off the Stack, Beyond the Pasture, Conversations, and the wider literary world, Field Notes is where research meets imagination, and where writers get to ask smarter questions in very good company. For viewers discovering Bell Cow through C. M. Alongi, welcome to the herd. Bell Cow Productions is home to a growing pasture of bookish podcasts, author conversations, creative panels, reader-focused interviews, and literary resources designed for writers, readers, bookstores, libraries, and anyone who loves stories. In this episode, we explore: • How stories compete with screens, games, apps, and online attention • Why fandom can help readers find their way into books • What BookTok and social media change about author-reader relationships • How serialized storytelling, short-form video, and character work can feed fiction • Why mystery readers are active participants in the story • How clues, suspense, humor, and narrative drive keep readers turning pages • What fantasy, mystery, graphic novels, games, and online culture can teach writers • How authors build worlds that feel bigger than the page 🎙️ Guests: C. M. Alongi Author of Heart of Iron, creator of CaFae Latte, and a science fiction/fantasy writer and content creator whose work lives at the intersection of fiction, fandom, character, and online storytelling. https://www.cmalongi.com/ Michael Allan Mallory Mystery and crime fiction author of the Henry and Janet Lau mysteries and the Snake Jones mysteries, bringing a sharp perspective on suspense, clues, Sherlock Holmes, humor, reader participation, and narrative momentum. https://www.snakejones.com/ 🎙️ Connect with the hosts: Rob Jung https://robjungwriter.com/ Michael David MacBride https://www.michaelmacbride.com/ 🌐 Everything Bell Cow: https://www.bellcowproductions.com/ 🐮 Bell Cow Field Notes: https://www.bellcowproductions.com/fieldnotes Subscribe, like, follow, and come take notes with the herd. #BellCow #BellCowProductions #FieldNotes #CMAlongi #CaFaeLatte #HeartOfIron #MichaelAllanMallory #BookTok #FantasyBooks #MysteryBooks #WritingCommunity #AuthorLife #AuthorInterview #Storytelling #Fandom #BookPodcast #WritersOfYouTube

🐮 Bell Cow Author Round-up: J.J. Heckenlaible | No Better Place and small-town Minnesota (with hosts Rob Jung & Michael MacBride)

The weekly Bell Cow Herd Podcast, hosted by authors, Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride, rounds up the best voices from the Bell Cow Cattle-log and the wider publishing world, publishers, authors, editors and more, to shine a light on the people who compose the remarkable Midwestern literary community. With short, punchy chats, exclusive author readings, and deep dives into their background and craft, you’ll get to know, like never before, the people who embellish our lives via the written word. The podcast rings the bell loud and clear, guiding you straight to your next favorite author, maybe even one who writes in your own backyard. Join the herd. Give the round-up a listen: subscribe, like, and follow! Today we’re joined by Minnesota author J.J. Heckenlaible, whose No Better Place: A Hometown Tale revisits the bittersweet comedy and ache of growing up in a small Minnesota town. It is a coming-of-age story built from friendships, family, tragedy, love, and that strange moment when your hometown starts to feel both too small and impossible to leave. Heckenlaible writes with the kind of lived-in specificity that makes a place feel real, the local characters, the rhythms of small-town life, the humor that shows up even in hard seasons. If you have ever felt the tug-of-war between who you were and who you are becoming, this is your episode. You can learn more about J.J. at: ⁠https://jjheckenlaible.com/⁠ No Better Place is available wherever books are sold. In this episode, J.J. talks about writing a hometown truth without sentimentality, building character through community, and why the past still has teeth. You can find out more about your hosts: Rob and Michael at their webpages (⁠https://robjungwriter.com/⁠ and ⁠https://www.michaelmacbride.com⁠). And, of course, you can find everything about Bell Cow Productions at the official webpage: ⁠https://www.bellcowproductions.com⁠ (🐮 moo!) #bellcow #bellcowproductions #interviews #authors #roundup #bellcowroundup

🐮 Bell Cow StoryLab: What We Steal From Other Mediums: Craft Tricks Borrowed From TV, Film and Games

Bell Cow StoryLab is our monthly author panel series, hosted by authors Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride. Each episode brings multiple writers into one craft-focused conversation, spotlighting how books actually get built. Scene by scene, choice by choice. In What We Steal From Other Mediums: Craft Tricks Borrowed From TV, Film and Games, we celebrate the joyful truth that writers are magpies. We talk about what other mediums teach us about pacing, scene architecture, escalation, motif, subtext, and momentum, and how to translate those tools into prose without the story feeling like a screenplay in a trench coat. We get into questions like: What technique did you steal that immediately improved your writing? Do you think in shots and cuts, or do you resist cinematic thinking on the page? How do you compress time without a summary dump, and still keep it propulsive? Today’s panelists (bios + links) ✅ Traci Lambrecht (P.J. Tracy): Award-winning crime novelist known for high-speed plotting and page-turning suspense. https://pjtracy.com/ ✅ James W Bennetts: Minnesota mystery and suspense author focused on tight pacing, layered subplots, and escalating stakes. https://www.jameswbennettsbooks.com/ ✅ Christopher Valen: Mystery author best known for his John Santana series, built around propulsive investigations and high-pressure turns. https://www.christophervalen.com/ Connect with the hosts ✅ Rob Jung: https://robjungwriter.com/ ✅ Michael David MacBride: https://www.michaelmacbride.com/ 🐮 Everything Bell Cow: https://www.bellcowproductions.com/#BellCow #BellCowProductions #BellCowStoryLab #StoryLab #Villains #Antagonists #WritingCraft #AmWriting #FictionWriting #MysteryWriters #CrimeFiction #ThrillerWriters #CharacterDevelopment #PageTurners