#SaturdaySpotlight is on Kathleen Marple Kalb AKA Nikki Knight @NikkiKnightVT

Good Morning,

It's Bayou Writers Group meeting day so I won't take up much of your time! I'll just welcome today's guest, Kathleen Marple Kalb AKA Nikki Knight back with her latest book, Live, Local and Dead. Take it away Nikki....

LIVE, LOCAL, AND DEAD follows New York City DJ Jaye Jordan’s new start at a tiny Vermont radio station, after her husband survives cancer but their marriage doesn’t. She thinks she’s got enough trouble with protests because she replaced angry talk with love songs…and then the talk show host turns up dead in a snowman in front of the station. Plus, her second-chance romance with her old crush – the governor – turns out to be much more dangerous than either of them expected. Add in a colorful cast of locals, the cranky station cat Neptune, and Charlemagne the Moose, who has flatulence issues…and it’s more fun than anyone should be allowed to have in maple sugaring season.

Excerpt: In the wake of the talk-show host’s death, his producer – who’s trying to take over the show – makes Jaye his new favorite target. Somebody sends her a pipe bomb. Her new flame, Governor Will Ten Broeck comes to the station to comfort Jaye – and she puts on a long song so she has a little time for a hug.

Will took my hand. “You don’t have to be okay for me.”

It was the best thing he could have said. “Thanks. Let me get into MeatLoaf and I’ll take advantage of that.”

As I loaded the CD, and looked at my log to make sure I could run the long song, Neptune, who had somehow slept through all of the family drama, lifted his head and took in the scene. He hopped down from the turntable cabinet, and very deliberately walked over to Will, patting his leg. The two held eye contact for a moment, and then Neptune jumped up into Will’s lap.

“There you go, fella,” Will said, stroking Neptune’s fur as the cat nested comfortably into place. “You’re just fine.”

“What…”

Will grinned at me. “He – he? – knows he’s safe with me. My daughter has always had cats.”

“Neptune doesn’t like anybody but Ryan.”

“And me.” Neptune shot me what sure looked like a smile as he burrowed into Will. I knew, if he didn’t, that kitty was making sure to leave enough hair that the nice suit would need a good cleaning. “Neptune?”

“Ryan’s favorite planet.”

“Makes sense to me.”

I talked up the eight-minute drama with a surprisingly steady voice, and then took the other guest chair, moving it next to Will.

He laughed as he put one arm around me. “The cat’s needs always come first.”

“Yep.”

“Now, c’mere. You know you’re safe too.”

For a while, the only sound other than the low hum of overwrought 70s teen angst was Neptune’s deep, happy purr. Will didn’t say anything, and he didn’t have to. 

Nice to be the comfort-ee instead of the comforter. I felt like purring too.

Nikki Knight is the pen name of award-winning New York City radio news anchor Kathleen Marple Kalb. She’s been on the air since she was a teenage DJ in her small Western Pennsylvania hometown, working in newsrooms in Pittsburgh, Vermont, and Connecticut – and never losing her love of radio, or her hatred for snow. She also writes the Ella Shane historical mystery series for Kensington, and her short stories appear in several anthologies. Her Vermont story “Bad Apples” was an Honorable Mention in the 2021 Black Orchid Novella Contest. She, her husband, and their son live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat. 

Find out more and connect with Nikki at her Website, FaceBook, Twitter @NikkiKnightVT and Instagram! 

Check out her previous visit HERE.

Get your copy of Live, Local and Dead directly from the publisher, Penguin/Random House and everywhere books are sold!

Wow, Nikki it sure is nice to have you join us again and get a peek into your latest book. We certainly wish you the best of luck and God's blessings in your writing career.

Hope you enjoyed today's spotlight friends, and that you'll drop by each week for Wednesday Words with Friends and Saturday Spotlight. 

Until next time, take care and God bless.

PamT