A Saga of Bad Choices and Big Hearts: Lis Blanchard’s Sutton’s Home

A Saga of Bad Choices and Big Hearts: Lis Blanchard’s Sutton’s Home

In this warm and engaging episode, Jed welcomes debut novelist Lis Blanchard to celebrate her first book, “Sutton’s Home.” Lis introduces listeners to Sutton, a deeply flawed but lovable young woman who seems destined to make every wrong choice—and yet, readers can’t help but root for her as tragedy follows tragedy. Lis shares how she came to writing just five years ago, not through a lifelong dream of being an author, but as a way to cope with the emotional weight she carries from the people around her. After losing a dear friend to suicide during the pandemic, Lis discovered that transforming her feelings into fiction helped her heal, even though Sutton’s Home is not based on her friend’s life. Jed and Lis talk about the therapeutic power of storytelling—for both writers and readers—and Lis describes her “pantser” process: getting all the words out first, then shaping the story later with the help of a trusted critique group. She also opens up about her work in adult education, helping immigrants learn English and adults earn their high school diplomas. Listeners will also enjoy a lighter side of Lis: her tongue-in-cheek burger blog, born from serious food allergies and a dislike of burgers, and yet she reviews them everywhere she goes. The episode closes with where to find Lis online, how to get a copy of Sutton’s Home, and a hint of her next, more uplifting “road trip romance,” “The Penny Ride.”

Storytelling, Folklore, and the Power of Place with Kelly Jarvis

In this warm and engaging episode of the Connecticut Book Festivals podcast, Jed Doherty welcomes back author and folklorist Kelly Jarvis to celebrate her new gothic historical romance, Sea and Stars. Kelly begins by sharing the real-life “fairy tale” behind her own Belle-inspired library, a promise made by her high school boyfriend—now husband—that beautifully echoes the romance at the heart of her work. From there, the conversation flows into the power of books in our lives. Jed recalls a Reading With Your Kids conversation about how books in the home are a top predictor of a child’s future success, and Kelly, who teaches children’s literature at Central Connecticut State University, reinforces how simply surrounding kids with books can transform their literacy skills. Kelly then opens the door to the world of Sea and Stars, a Beauty and the Beast retelling set in 1847, beginning on the wild, mystical Isle of Skye and crossing the ocean to Mystic, Connecticut. Listeners meet Arabella Porter, a courageous healer gifted with a touch of fairy magic, and James Alden, a wealthy, secretive shipyard owner whose metaphorical “beastliness” comes from a dark past at sea. Jed and Kelly talk about folklore, landscape as character, and the courage it takes to leave home, as well as Kelly’s deep belief that storytelling is what makes us human, even in an age of AI. She also hints at more fairy tale–inspired romances to come and invites listeners to learn more at KellyJarvisWriter.com.

The Eternality Of Love

In this warm episode of The Ct Book Festivals Podcast Jed welcomes Dr. Dale Atkins. Dr Dale joins us to celebrate her touching picture book The Turquoise Butterfly. Inspired by her late mother Sylvia, whose favorite color was turquoise and who was fondly associated with butterflies, the story explores what Dr. Dale calls the “eternality of love.” Through the relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter, the book shows how memories, stories, and shared experiences help children carry a loved one’s spirit forward, even after death. Dr. Dale and Jed talk about the profound benefits of intergenerational relationships—emotional, physical, spiritual—and how grandparents and elders give children a sense of belonging, legacy, and resilience in a disconnected world.

What Makes a Human Human: Understanding That Everyone Belongs

In this powerful episode of the Connecticut Book Festivals Podcast, Jed welcomes back Mary Keating, lawyer, poet, and author of Recalibrating Gravity, to celebrate Disability Pride Month and reflect on the legacy—and limits—of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Mary shares the story of the car accident at age 15 that left her a paraplegic and completely changed her life in a single moment. With warmth and candor, she recalls how her “can‑do” family refused to sideline her, including her mom’s memorable insistence that she still come downstairs and set the table—an early lesson that she was expected to contribute, not retreat. Jed and Mary dig into the everyday realities of an inaccessible world: housing that can’t be entered, events held up flights of stairs, and public systems designed as if disabled people don’t exist. They highlight how many mainstream conveniences—like curb cuts, captions, touchscreens, and voice control—originated from accessibility innovations that benefit everyone. Mary reads two deeply moving poems from Recalibrating Gravity: “Happily Ever After,” which captures the loneliness and isolation of disability, and “What Makes a Human Human,” written after a dehumanizing moment in a Yale Law classroom. Both pieces illuminate how architecture, policy, and casual language can either erase or affirm someone’s humanity. Throughout the conversation, Mary and Jed return to a hopeful challenge: we can all be “architects of change” by noticing who’s missing, speaking up, and insisting that disabled people are not afterthoughts but full participants in our communities and stories.

Angels, Demons and Detectives

Lee Driftwood joins the Connecticut Book Festivals podcast to talk about his dark urban fantasy series, Forgotten Flame, and the unforgettable city that shapes it—New York. Lee shares how, as a third-generation former New Yorker, he couldn’t imagine setting his fantasy anywhere else. For him, the city is more than a backdrop; it’s a living, listening character that’s always present in the story. We learn about the first two books in the series, When She Walked In and What Was Lost, and meet the central duo: Michael, a private investigator, and Gabby, an NYPD detective who shows up at his door with a life-changing secret—she’s lost her memory. While angels and demons lurk in the shadows of this world, Lee explains that they’re really a metaphor for the spectrum of human nature, not literal supernatural beings. Lee talks us through his decision to craft a five-book arc, inspired by Roger Zelazny’s Nine Princes in Amber. He planned Michael and Gabby’s journeys in advance, but let secondary characters surprise him—some he meant to “knock off” ended up surviving and thriving because he liked them too much to let go. We also hear about Lee’s roots in corporate satire, how frustration with corporate life pushed him to write his first book, and how that experience rekindled his passion for fantasy. Away from the noir-tinted streets of New York, he’s a dad of eight-year-old twins, dreaming up a photography book for kids and wrestling with the challenge of introducing them to classics like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.