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Joined today by bestselling author and Santa Fe resident Douglas Preston. Known for his collaboration with Lincoln Child on their superb crime thrillers, Doug takes on a very different kind of collaboration. Working closely with Margaret Atwood and the Authors Guild they invited 36 brilliant authors to contribute stories for a pandemic-era tale set on a shabby rooftop in New York City’s Lower East Side. The result is Fourteen Days which begins in late March 2020 as the neighborhood is ravished by Covid 19 and the only safe escape from lockdown is sitting six feet apart on the roof. Contributors include John Grisham, Dave Eggers, Diana Gabaldon, Celeste Ng, Hampton Sides and Doug Preston, who does an extraordinary job of framing the original idea and linking the characters’ stories with Margaret Atwood’s masterful editing. Unprepared for the twist at the end! All profits from Fourteen Days go to the Authors Guild. authorsguild.org

An essential listen for all pet lovers in this uplifting return visit with animal rights activist, Carlyn Montes de Oca author of Dog as Your Doctor, Cat as Your Nurse and the multi-award winning Junkyard Girl. Last month, Carlyn’s beloved dog, Gracie, went missing in the Glorieta wilderness while on a hike with a trusted dog sitter friend. Her loss and return have become an inspiration. With the assistance of tracker Conrad Mahaffey of CMM Lost Pet Recovery and Humane Trapping, Grace and Carlyn were safely reunited in 24 hours. Listen and learn how that happened, it’s not what you’d expect. And learn more about Carlyn at animalhumanhealth.com

A treat for me to unwind with poet and writing teacher, Miriam Sagan, stopping by the KSFR studios with her inspiring collection, Thanks for Stopping By. Always breaking new ground and breaking the rules, this time Miriam’s poems are untitled, adding an unexpected potency and triggering an unconscious sense of immediacy. Miriam discusses her sojourns as writer-in-residence in Japan a few years ago, as well as alone in four of our vast National Parks. Also, we take a peak into a new project she’s creating with her daughter Isabel. Look for Thanks for Stopping By at any of our treasured local bookstores.

A vital interview for all writers, aspiring authors, editors, book designers, booksellers and everyone in the publishing world. I welcome Shirley Melis and Anna Sochocky to the KSFR studio, Co-President and Vice President of New Mexico Book Association. This month, NMBA celebrates its 30th anniversary at a Gala on August 27th with special guest Hampton Sides. Learn how you can get involved with NMBA, one of this country’s most active and respected literary organizations? Listen as Anna and Shirley tell their own fascinating stories and be newly inspired. nmbookassociation.org

Continuing poetry month here on The Last Word with Santa Fe’s much loved Wayne Lee here in the KSFR studios accompanied by his cat. Well, Buddha’s Cat to be specific, the title of his brand new chapbook published this week, a collection dedicated to furry four-legged creatures of all species, from beloved companion animals to the wildest and most revered and even feared here in New Mexico and across the country. Wayne’s evocative writing simultaneously cracks open your heart, tickles your funny bone, and sends shivers down your spine as he reads with honest and deeply personal emotion forged with astute awareness and great love of our natural world. Wayne will be the featured spoken word artist this Saturday morning May 23rd at 10:30 at Chatter North at the Center of Contemporary Art (CCA) on the Old Pecos Trail. More at wayneleepoet.com

Joined today by poet and musician Lee Underwood reading from his new, beautifully crafted volume, Riversong. Many poems are dedicated to his beloved wife of 50 years Sonia Crespi, his Lady of the Streams. Lee poignantly shares wisdom of their long relationship, how they forged and deepened their “marriage of opposites” through thick and thin. How loves endures and how the sweetness and power of the natural world soothes, comforts and inspired them both. A gentle interview with an octogenarian to sit beside and listen. Riversong published by Poetic Matrix Press poeticmatrix.com. Contact Lee for a signed copy at undrwd@sti.net

Take a deeply restful, nourishing journey today with Henry Shukman, meditation teacher, poet and spiritual director emeritus at Mountain Cloud Zen Center. Henry brings his intelligent, calming presence to our studios with his new book Original Love: The Four Inns on The Path to Awakening through which we glimpse a layer beyond the peace and mindfulness that meditation can bring. More than ever a simple meditation practice may help us reconcile today’s angst and divisiveness to offer a steadiness of clarity in our daily lives. Can our own inner calm affect those around us? Even five minutes a day may help, and perhaps this 23 minute podcast may initiate your inner journey along with Henry Shukman’s insightful words born of personal experience in Original Love.

With me today is Christina Vo a Vietnamese American who has written an exquisitely crafted memoir with her father, Nghia M. Vo. My Vietnam, Your Vietnam: A Father Flees, A Daughter Returns. Nghia, risking death, torture or imprisonment was miraculously picked up by a small rescue boat a few days after the fall of Saigon in April, 1975 and eventually forged a new life in the United States. Yet like many refugees Christina’s parents never spoke to their children of the horrors of the war and their harrowing escape, even only speaking their native language when Christina and her sister were asleep or out of earshot. So it was after college in the Midwest that Christina began to feel a yearning to discover her rich ancestral roots and journeyed first to Hanoi. The theme of reconciliation runs like a precious gem through our vibrant conversation. My Vietnam, Your Vietnam published by Three Rooms Press.