Jennifer Egan, author of "The Keep," reads an excerpt from the novel and gives her answer to the question "Can the imagined become the reality?" The full interview from a 2006 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: jenniferegan.com/Pieter M. van Hattem…

John Dunning, the late author of "The Bookman's Promise," talks about the differences between a bookman and antiquarian, and how the bookman in the novel begins his own search for a book and a killer. The full interview from a 2005 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts.…

Cassandra Dunn, author of "The Art of Adapting," reads an excerpt from her novel that illustrates how women dealing with a personal crisis sometimes delve into taking care of other people rather than focusing on their own problems. The full interview from a 2014 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you g…

Sarah Dunant, author of "Sacred Hearts," reads an excerpt from her novel in which the young main character, Serafina, starts to find her voice within the confines of an Italian convent in the year 1570 and makes her plans to escape. The full interview from a 2009 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you …

Robert Dugoni, former Civil Litigator and author of "The Conviction: A David Sloane Novel," talks about the downside of the privatizing of the criminal justice system in the world, and how he illustrated the issue in his novel. The full interview from a 2012 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get y…

Jennifer DuBois, author of "Cartwheel," talks about how people can reach different conclusions about an event with the same set of facts, and the similarities her novel has to the real life case of Amanda Knox. The full interview from a 2013 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Pho…

Ken Dornstein, author of "The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky: A True Story," talks about the last letter his brother wrote before his tragic death on Pan Am Flight 103, and Ken's reply to him many years later. The full interview from a 2006 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: …

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of "The Palace of Illusions," talks about how a woman named Panchaali becomes powerful in a world where few women do, and how she handles the unusual responsibility of having five husbands. The full interview from a 2008 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your…

Vanessa Diffenbaugh, author of "The Language of Flowers," talks about the adjustment parents and children often go through when the children are ultimately adopted. The full interview from a 2011 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts.By Jim Foster: Conversations On The Coast

Matthew Diffee, editor of "The Rejection Collection Vol. 2: The Cream of the Crap," talks about what questions cartoonists said they would ask of The New Yorker editor Bob Mankoff if they could ask him just one, while Jim offers why he thinks some of the rejected cartoons shouldn't have been. The full interview from a 2007 episode of "Conversations…

Frank Delaney, the late author of "Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea," tells a story illustrating how the very diverse ship crew of the freighter S.S. Flying Enterprise showed bravery in the middle of a huge storm in a 1951 voyage to America from Europe. The full interview from a 2006 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim F…

Frank Deford, the late author of "Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter," tells a story about his stint with the 'lite beer all stars' and interactions with Rodney Dangerfield and Ben Davidson. The full interview from a 2012 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts.…

On this special episode, host and producer Jim Foster speaks with technical producer Robert Costa about how "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" became a long-running program airing on various radio stations in the San Francisco Bay Area for several decades, and also speaks about how the book publishing world has changed over the years, whe…

In "The Whole World Over," author Julia Glass writes a novel about all the little accidents in life that come together to determine our choices in love and connections to others in the world. This second discussion about the book took place on a 2007 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. P…

In "Perfidia," author James Ellroy writes a historical novel and the first volume of his second L.A. Quartet series, set in Los Angeles in 1941 that follows the story of several very different people who come together to investigate the murder of a Japanese family as America is at the brink of World War II. This discussion with the author took plac…

In "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions," author Sister Helen Prejean talks about her first-hand experiences witnessing the execution of Dobie Gillis Williams in 1999 and Joseph Roger O'Dell in 1997, how poor people are primarily affected by wrongful executions, and why the execution of Michael Morales was postponed…

In "Dorchester Terrace: A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel," the late author Anne Perry writes the next novel in a series in which Thomas Pitt is now the head of Britain's Special Branch, and follows the story of him and his wife trying to get information from two women in order to prevent an international catastrophe. This conversation took place o…

In "Her Wild Oats," the late author Kathi Kamen Goldmark writes a novel about two people at very different points in their lives who develop an unlikely friendship, a thirteen-year-old boy who plays the harmonica, and a young woman who recently discovered her husband was having an affair. In this discussion, the late author's husband Sam Barry talk…

In "And the Dark Sacred Night," author Julia Glass writes a novel about a man's quest to find his biological father and what he discovered along the journey about himself and the world. This discussion took place on a 2014 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. Photo: Robert Costa.…

In this episode, Jim Foster shares his thoughts on the publishing scandal surrounding James Frey's memoir "A Million Little Pieces" and why a memoir by Heather King entitled "Parched" is more meaningful surrounding the subject of alcoholism and addiction, especially considering the fact that many things written as personal experiences in Frey's mem…