Welcome to a new season of the award-winning Hill Country Authors Podcast, sponsored by Stoney Creek Publishing. In this podcast, Hill Country resident Tom Fox visits with authors who live in and write about the Texas Hill Country. Host Tom Fox welcomes back journalist and author Carol J. Williams to discuss her historical fiction trilogy, which continues with Dispatches from Berlin, which releases on October 27th.
Carol J. Williams discusses how Soviet economic decline and leaders like Andropov set the stage for Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika, the effects of the arms race and summits with Reagan, and how Chernobyl undermined trust in openness. She describes the Soviet Union’s dependence on Eastern Bloc satellites for security and goods, and the critical role of journalism in documenting rapid change. Carol J. Williams recounts the accidental dynamics of November 9, 1989, that opened the Berlin Wall, Helmut Kohl’s reunification strategy, and contrasts Germany’s success with Yugoslavia’s nationalist-driven wars, previewing a third, Sarajevo-based book. She shares where to find book details and preorder links.
Key highlights:
- Gorbachev Reforms Begin
- Shortages and Chernobyl Blow
- Reforms Spread Eastward
- From Yeltsin to Putin
- Berlin Wall Opens By Accident
- Reunification Kohl Strategy
Resources:
Carol J. Williams on Stoney Creek Publishing
Podcast Cover Art
Tom Fox
My first work of general non-fiction is now out: Deluge Before Dawn, the story of the 2025 flood in Kerr County, Texas, which killed 119 people and devastated a county. It is a story of tragedy, heartbreak, survival, and resilience.
It is available on the following sites:
This week only, the Kindle e-book version is available for $0.99 on Amazon.