Allen Cobb returns to Writers' Voices this week to tell Monica and Caroline about his latest publishing venture - "The Rules for the game of life" - A novel, in which secrets are revealed.

According to Allen, "t's a little comical, a little cosmic, and hopefully a fun read. As many of you know, I've been collecting a strange set of "rules" — with tongue firmly in cheek — and I finally succumbed to repeated requests to "make them into a book." It quickly turned into an unexpected little novel, one which pretty much wrote itself. (Which is probably a Good Thing.)"

Allen is also a poet, a sound artist, and a publisher so no doubt this will be a far-ranging conversation on Writers' Voices!

Iowa City author, Larry Baker, has written five novels, including "Athens, America" and "The Flamingo Rising". His most recent book, "Love & Other Delusions", presents a fresh take on the story of a married woman having an affair with a younger man.

Larry Baker is currently an adjunct Assistant Professor for the University of Iowa, as well as an adjunct instructor at Kirkwood Community College. Baker will be giving a reading Saturday, June 9, 1 PM at Revelations. Bookstore in Fairfield.

Baker is also working on a documentary about the creative process, focusing on the writing of "A Good Man," in which Baker drew on, or "stole" as he would say, from a variety of predecessors.  Check out Monica's review of "A Good Man" at http://www.writersvoices.com/books-review/books-review/good-man-larry-baker/. 

Tune into this week's Writer's Voices for an interview with Mary Helen Stefaniak. Stefaniak's most recent book is "The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia: A Novel." Her book, which takes place during Depression-era Georgia, tells of what happens when a new, unconventional and well-traveled school teacher comes to town, choosing to revive the annual town festival as an exotic Baghdad Bazaar. The story is told from the perspective of eleven year old, Gladys Cailiff. The book takes readers from the American South to the banks of the Tigris River and back again.

Mary Helen Stefaniak's work has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Yale Review, EPOCH, The Antioch Review, and in several anthologies. Her other books include a novel, "The Turk and My Mother," and a collection of short stories, "Self Storage and Other Stories." She is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

This week on Writers' Voices, we welcome Larry Baker to talk about his latest novel, A Good Man. A Good Man updates the world of Flannery O'Connor's characters through the Bush years and into the age of Obama. Fans of O'Connor's fiction will be intrigued by Baker's imaginative reunion, in the home of the fountain of youth, of Bevel Summers with a very grown-up harry from O'Connor's "The River."

"Without imitating O'Connor, Baker does serious honor to her legacy." -- Marshall Bruce Gentry, Editor, Flannery O'Connor Review, Georgia College & State University.

This novel examines issues surrounding religion and secular philosophy. It should be a very interesting conversation, and we hope you'll join us this Friday at 1pm on KRUU.