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 opens a new season of the Texas Hill Country Authors Podcast with returning guest Paul McGrath to discuss McGrath’s novel Left is Right, a sequel to the PEN Craft award-winning Left.
McGrath recounts a 37-year career at Texas newspapers, primarily the Houston Chronicle, plus teaching at Texas A&M and Clear Lake, and his A&M roots with The Battalion. He explains expanding Anton’s story into a multi-book series (with five planned), driven by character attachment and news-inspired plots. McGrath describes layered “Left” titles, using Ellie to express progressive viewpoints, and empathy as a motivating force for Anton and Ellie, including Ezra’s lingering influence. He notes a darker tone influenced by right-wing militias, human trafficking, and a Texas motorcycle gang, balanced by humor, wordplay, and pop-culture references like a Jon Hamm dream sequence. He outlines the FBI’s and alien authorities’ ongoing pursuit, then a return to alien supervision, credits Stoney Creek Publishing’s support, shares on social platforms, and previews future themes involving Russians and cryptocurrency.
Key highlights:
- Why Continue with Anton
- Series Titles and ‘Left’
- Empathy Driving the Plot
- Darker Satire and Villains
- Humor Wordplay and Names
- Pop Culture Cameos
- Where the Series Goes
Resources:
Paul McGrath on Stoney Creek Publishing
Left is Right on Texas A&M University Press
Social Media
Podcast Cover Art
Tom Fox
