Bell Cow Productions

05/26/2026

Crime fiction readers, circle this one.

Bell Cow Author Round-up is our Tuesday ritual: we sit down with a regional author, talk books and writing life, and include a short reading whenever possible—because nothing sells a book like hearing the voice behind it.

This week we’re joined by Minnesota author Christine Husom, whose work blends police procedural realism with cozy-mystery cleverness. Her novel Buried in the House serves secrets, suspense, and sharp character work—exactly what we come to the genre for.

🎥 YouTube: https://youtu.be/7Lzo9xzUi8w

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5zg72EOwSLeoq460tfSeSi?si=ie81kzX-SIGwKX1DYm1gtw

Prefer audio-only? Spotify is linked here, but you can also find Bell Cow on Apple, Audible, iHeart, and other platforms.

05/22/2026

📚 If you love author interviews, literary conversations, and getting a little closer to the people behind the books, you should spend some time with Writer’s Corner.

Created and hosted by Alan Miller, Writer’s Corner has built a remarkable archive of thoughtful half-hour conversations with writers, reviewers, public figures, and literary voices from Minnesota and beyond. It’s the kind of show that gives authors room to talk about their books, their process, their research, and the stories behind the stories.

The back catalogue includes conversations with an incredible range of guests, including William Kent Krueger, David Housewright, Matt Goldman, Brian Freeman, Tracy Clark, Shawn Otto, Christine Husom, Allen Eskens, Rob Jung, Jeffrey B. Burton, and many more.

Alan has created something special here: a generous, curious, writer-centered space that preserves and celebrates literary conversation.

Dig into the rich back catalogue of Writer’s Corner episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqJeOe6qKaye0-10JTIDKcb_V3AkEAZBr

Writer’s Corner is a literary interview series featuring conversations with authors, writers, reviewers, publishers, and other bookish voices from Minnesota ...

05/21/2026

🐮📚 StoryLab is back, and this month we are celebrating the writers who refuse to stay in one lane.

New episode drops today (and yes, StoryLab drops every 3rd Thursday of the month).

Episode: Writing Across Genres: The Joy (and Chaos) of Being Unpigeonholeable
Hosted by Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride

Some writers build a forever-home in one genre. Others hop genres like stepping stones across a creek. In this panel, we talk about the push and pull between experimentation and branding, what stays consistent across your work even when the genre changes, how to keep the “promise” of a genre without becoming predictable, and how to try something new without confusing your readers.

Panelists to tag and follow:
✅ Beth M James: https://www.bethmjames.com/
✅ Catherine Friend: https://catherinefriend.com/
✅ Frank Weber: https://www.frankweberauthor.com/
✅ M.A. Monnin: https://www.mamonnin.com/

🎥 Watch + listen: https://youtu.be/uhSIzmJooc8
🎧 Or just listen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0f1WzAdSimMFkMn1oHN73b?si=4UwX9fB2Q3GuVWvXqq-HCg

Everything Bell Cow: https://www.bellcowproductions.com/

05/19/2026

Two authors. One episode. Plenty of darkness.

Bell Cow Author Round-up is our weekly author spotlight: short conversations, a little craft talk, and often a reading—so you can meet the voice behind the book. It’s built to connect readers (and book people) with the writers living and working in our region.

This week we’re joined by C.N. Buchholz and A.W. Powers for a double-feature of thriller/paranormal storytelling—fear, craft, and the strange forces that make good fiction impossible to ignore.

🎥 YouTube: https://youtu.be/kB-V1Gkjukc

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6JvszagPtGnZ879rFdRB2c?si=C3PIT-ECRGy4w0vWINumXA

Audio-only? Spotify is linked, but you can also find Bell Cow on Apple, Audible, iHeart, and more.

05/18/2026

🐮📚 Five Minnesota mystery authors. One collaborative thriller. A whole lot of ways this could have gone off the rails.

Today is launch day for The Kill Code Collective, written by Brian Lutterman Author, Rob Jung Author, John Baird Rogers, Chris Norbury Author, and Julie Holmes, Author, five Minnesota mystery and thriller authors from Midwest Mystery Works.

In this episode of Fresh Off the Stack, we talk with the authors about how five novelists managed to write one cohesive thriller together, how they handled voice, plot, research, continuity, and collaboration, and what happens when a group of writers tries to share the steering wheel without driving into a ditch.

The Kill Code Collective digs into medical technology, unexplained cardiac device failures, and a mystery big enough to require a collective response.

📺 Watch the episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/eSpjD1rI07k

🎧 Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6wNTsKKDG8lHX9mG469OwU?si=8xV7rodAT8iimAP8G5onwQ

📖 Buy a copy from Once Upon A Crime:
https://onceuponacrimebooks.com/book/9781736610879

📍 Launch event tonight!
Official Launch Party at Minnesota Mystery Night
May 18, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Lucky’s 13 Pub, Mendota, MN

More upcoming events:
May 21, 2026 at 10:10 AM
Book Club Radio Show
KRWC-AM 1360, Buffalo, MN

May 21, 2026 from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM
Signing at Book Nook
Delano, MN

May 23, 2026 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Signing at Once Upon a Crime
Minneapolis, MN

May 30, 2026 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Sweet Read Books
Austin, MN

July 12, 2026 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Twin Cities Sisters in Crime Wine and Crime Book Fair
Next Chapter Winery, New Prague, MN

Congratulations to Brian, Rob, John, Chris, and Julie on launch day. We were delighted to have the whole herd on Fresh Off the Stack.

Learn more about Bell Cow Productions:
https://www.bellcowproductions.com

05/18/2026

🎙️ New in Mystery Conversations: A Bell Cow Podcast from Bell Cow Productions

Originally recorded live at Minnesota Mystery Night on 2/16, this encore episode features Chicago author Lori Rader-Day in conversation with book reviewer Kate Malmon.

These Mystery Conversations episodes give Minnesota Mystery Night a second life beyond the room, bringing the energy of a live audience, sharp questions, great storytelling, and all the mystery-talk goodness to listeners everywhere. If you love crime fiction, smart conversation, and the kind of literary back-and-forth that only happens when book people gather in person, this one’s for you.

Lori Rader-Day is an award-winning crime writer whose books include Wreck Your Heart, The Death of Us, Death at Greenway, The Lucky One, Under a Dark Sky, The Day I Died, Little Pretty Things, and The Black Hour. Kate Malmon is a sharp and thoughtful reviewer known in the crime-fiction world for exactly the kind of conversation you want steering a night like this.

And if this episode leaves you wanting the live experience, check the current Minnesota Mystery Night schedule and make reservations here:
https://www.mnmysterynight.com
https://www.mnmysterynight.com/reservations

Bell Cow Productions:
https://www.bellcowproductions.com

🐄 Come for the mystery.
🎙️ Stay for the conversation.
🔎 Then grab tickets for the next live one... if there are any left.

05/14/2026

🐮 Missed the live recording of our first Bell Cow Book Club last night?

No worries. The replay is ready for you here:
https://youtube.com/live/T0xB-gopFP4

This month, Rob Jung Author and Michael MacBride kicked things off with S.L. Woeppel’s The Butcher and the Liar, a psychological thriller about memory, trauma, secrets, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

It was live. It was unedited. It was, as promised, very much without a safety net. Thanks for those who showed up and the questions we got ahead of time. Appreciate it!

The episode will eventually show up in audio-only format in a few days (on Spotify, Apple, Audible, Amazon Music, Podbean, etc), but for now, you can catch the full conversation on YouTube. We’d love to hear what you think, especially if you’ve read the book.

And while you’re at it, grab your copy of The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton so you can join us next month for another live Bell Cow Book Club event.

Future episodes happen on the second Wednesday of each month.

Learn more about Bell Cow Productions at:
https://www.bellcowproductions.com

05/12/2026

Sci-fi with heart and real emotional stakes.

Bell Cow Author Round-up exists to spotlight regional authors and help readers find new favorites—without wading through the algorithm swamp. Every Tuesday, we share a short author conversation + a reading so you can sample the writing.

This week’s Round-up features MB Panichi, author of Blood and Roses—futuristic worldbuilding, romance, and resilience woven into a story that pulls you forward.

🎥 YouTube: https://youtu.be/DO1b1uWTYdY

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3g63lVEeCf2orDBp3VWIP2?si=o3uRK-v6Qlm4oNpm7EEQvw

Prefer audio-only? Spotify is linked here, but we’re also on Apple, Audible, iHeart, and other platforms.

05/11/2026

To kick off National Police Week, Bell Cow Field Notes is back with a thoughtful new episode that asks a fascinating question: why are we so drawn to law enforcement characters who bend the rules, live in the gray, and carry all the flaws and baggage that make them human?

In this episode, Rob Jung Author and Michael MacBride are joined by retired police commander and ethics instructor Joseph Moravchik, along with authors Judy Kerr, Tracy Clark, Craig Johnson, and Douglas Dorow, for a rich conversation about police ethics, fictional law enforcement, moral ambiguity, and the impossible standard of expecting real people to be perfect.

If you love crime fiction, morally complex characters, and smart conversations about what fiction can reveal about real life, come take notes with us.

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/OjrWm2dQFfE

Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2wcHjDrTo7lrKKxPMypBHC?si=q9WMir4USHmWMR2WzhdyqQ

05/05/2026

Paranormal, emotional, and quietly transformational.

If you’re new here: Bell Cow Author Round-up is our Tuesday podcast where we sit down with regional writers (mostly Minnesota) for a short chat about their books—and usually a reading, so you can hear the story’s voice straight from the author.

This week we’re joined by Minnesota author Beth M James, reading from The Orb Lady: Cali’s Story—a women’s fiction journey with unseen forces, romantic tension, and resilience at its core.

🎥 YouTube: https://youtu.be/K5D_oK13trU

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2ydgpTAvRz8n8NZuwxg7Q4?si=kTBL9RAvRzWt2n3OgZ13HQ

Audio-only? Spotify is linked, but you can also find Bell Cow on Apple, Audible, iHeart, and elsewhere.