Sharma Shields, author

Nathan O'Brien of Lilac City Comicon

* Join the conversation and support A Line Around Your Thoughts as part of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our Patreon community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://patreon.com/alayt]⁠. * Interested in becoming an episode or season sponsor? Reach out to us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠via our website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://alaytpodcast.com]. Our guest this week is Nathan O'Brien, founder and showrunner of the Lilac City Comicon [https://www.lilaccitycon.com]. The LCC will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year when it runs June 6 and 7 at the Spokane Convention Center. Nathan talks about the two-decade evolution of the event, its community outreach and its guest star lineup in 2026. Thanks to our Patreon sponsor-tier member ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mel Antuna Hewitt⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.librobuch.com/] for supporting ALAYT. Why not join her [https://www.patreon.com/c/ALAYT]?

Sharma Shields, author

* Join the conversation and support A Line Around Your Thoughts as part of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our Patreon community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://patreon.com/alayt]⁠. * Interested in becoming an episode or season sponsor? Reach out to us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠via our website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://alaytpodcast.com]. Welcome to the standalone second (and final) part of our two back-to-back episodes featuring members of the Spokane Public Library⁠⁠ [https://www.spokanelibrary.org]. This week we're back on location at the SPL's in-house podcast studio, this time with SPL Writing Education Specialist and author Sharma Shields. Sharma talks about several of the library's lit-related initiatives in addition to giving a quick preview of her forthcoming novel Duckling, which is due out next year. Thanks to our Patreon sponsor-tier member ⁠⁠⁠⁠Mel Antuna Hewitt⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.librobuch.com/] for supporting ALAYT.

Eva Silverstone & Alina Murcar of the Spokane Public Library

* Join the conversation and support A Line Around Your Thoughts as part of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our Patreon community⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://patreon.com/alayt]⁠. * Interested in becoming an episode or season sponsor? Reach out to us ⁠⁠⁠⁠via our website⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://alaytpodcast.com]. This week's episode is on location at the Spokane Public Library [https://www.spokanelibrary.org]'s podcast studio, where our guests are Eva Silverstone and Alina Murcar. Eva is the SPL's Arts Education Specialist; Alina is the Marketing & Communications Manager. The two of them talk about how Spokane's library system has transformed from a repository of printed matter into a multifaceted resource for the creative community. Next week's episode with author and SPL Writing Specialist Sharma Shields will continue this conversation.

Troy Nickerson & Chris Jensen of Theater on the Verge

* Join the conversation and support A Line Around Your Thoughts as part of ⁠⁠⁠⁠our Patreon community⁠⁠⁠ [https://patreon.com/alayt]⁠. * Interested in becoming an episode or season sponsor? Reach out to us ⁠⁠⁠via our website⁠⁠⁠ [https://alaytpodcast.com]. This episode marks A Line Around Your Thoughts' one-year anniversary. And in honor of that, we're checking back in with our debut-episode pioneers, Troy Nickerson and Chris Jensen of Theater on the Verge [https://www.theaterontheverge.com]. They talk about a year's worth of activity as well as their upcoming production of the puppet-forward dark comedy, Hand to God. Hand to God opens on May 21, 2026 at The Listening Room at Hamilton Studio [https://www.hamilton.live] and runs there until June 6, 2026 Thanks to our Patreon sponsor-tier member ⁠⁠⁠Mel Antuna Hewitt⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.librobuch.com/] for supporting ALAYT.

David Klenda ("86)" & Thomas Richardson of The Chaos

* Join the conversation and support A Line Around Your Thoughts as part of ⁠⁠⁠our Patreon community⁠⁠ [https://patreon.com/alayt]⁠. * Interested in becoming an episode or season sponsor? Reach out to us ⁠⁠via our website⁠⁠ [https://alaytpodcast.com]. On the second Thursday of each month, poet David Klenda ("86") and multi-instrumentalist Thomas Richardson unleash The Chaos at the Blue Door Theatre [https://www.bluedoortheatre.org]. The Chaos is an unpredictable, semi-improvised evening of music, spoken word poetry, improv actors, stand-up comics, hula hoopers and even a magician. For this week's episode, David and Thomas recap what happened at the last Chaos (hint: someone gets beaned by a hula hoop) and preview what they think is coming up at the next one on May 14, 2026. Thanks to our Patreon sponsor-tier member ⁠⁠Mel Antuna Hewitt⁠⁠ [https://www.librobuch.com/] for supporting ALAYT.